Inside the fire
by Ninken ears
Summary: Team seven is sent on a mission that starts a domino effect of bad. Kakashi and Sakura try to work together and maintain a professional distance. Life can sometimes drag you down and drown you. Can they figure out their lives and their mission? Or will they drown under it all? Death,Angst,Sex,Violence and some very bad words..Chaps 2-17 Under editing construction
1. Dangerous roads

_So this is the first part of Inside the Fire. The first two chaps are sort of a prologue to the rest of the story._

_This is my first fic, and honestly I just finished my 22nd chap and looking back to the beginning._

_Errgg XD My writing has improved a lot. I'm sort of ashamed of this._

_Oh Well. It gets better I think._

* * *

_On A side note. I feel like I have to put this ::: This is an adult story. I have no frills for you here. Only the Feels and the Reals._

_In the summary it says **death**. It's not a lie. Characters **die** and get** killed** in this story. All sorts of characters... Some would say a lot...or too many p_

_They are ninja and they live in a very violent world. Death is a part of their life and I take full advantage of it. (pfft Kishi kills way more then I do anyways..)_

_There's your warning. If you don't like the idea of that...its totally understandable...who wants to read something that depresses them for hours afterward?_

_Well...I sorta do..._

* * *

**_Dangerous Roads_**

* * *

"The Intel was off. What should we do?" Sakura whispered to the man creeping up on his stomach beside her. The two Shinobi peered down the small hill together at a group of rogue-nin they had been sent out to capture. The dark headed man took in the scene below and pursed his lips in thought.

"I think we should head back, meet with Kakashi and Naruto and discuss this. Then we'll devise a plan based on our new information." Sai glanced at her looking for affirmation which she quickly nodded to, earning her one of his strange awkward smiles. Taking on a group of seven rogue-nin was a lot different than taking on the three they were originally sent for.

Sakura tugged on Urushi's tail lightly and tilted her head with a nod behind them. Kakashi had summoned his ninken to aid them with the tracking the rogues and the hound was staring down at the targets below them. With a light wag of his tail Urushi let her know that he understood and began retreating as well.

Team-seven had been tracking the nin on a tip from a nearby village that had spotted the rogues a few days ago; and they had set out as soon as the mission was assigned to them. The ninken found the trail quickly enough and they spent the past four days tracking them to the edge of the fire country, their quarry was unsuspecting and that was a very good thing.

* * *

Once they were a safe distance away, Sai and Sakura quickly began making their way to the designated meeting point. They leapt from tree to tree as quickly as possible until they landed in the small thicket not surprised at all to find Kakashi and Naruto already waiting for them. Naruto pacing back and forth while Kakashi sat on a fallen log. The copy-nin was a picture of relaxation as he indulged himself in his Icha-Icha dream world. However, not even their silver-haired laid back team leader could influence their blonde ball of energy to completely slow down.

The last few years had seen Naruto's vigor develop a control panel of maturity, which helped to keep him under control. Which _everyone_ was appreciative of. The war with its countless missions, lost friends, the battle with Sasuke, and his desire to be Hokage, had forced Naruto to grow in to the man he wanted to be. He was much more level-headed then the crazy genin they originally had to deal with. Everyone for that matter had changed and grown, but that's what life does to you. Naruto had learned how to have patience and how to strategize. Sai learned humanity and friendship. Sakura herself had learned how to take charge and have confidence her abilities. Kakashi, well he was still the same person he had always been and that was just what they needed him to be.

The pink haired kunoichi dropped down next to her team leader as he stored his book back in its secret place while Sai and Naruto sat across from them. The ninken filed around filling up the edges and turning

"We counted seven rogue nin instead of the three Tsunade had been informed of. They are on the other side of the valley and look to be headed in the direction of the River country. When we left they were setting up camp for the night, they do not know they are being tracked and did not seem to be setting up a lot of defenses" She relayed to the others.

"We saw them too" Kakashi broke in "Naruto and I saw our three meet up with the other four and continue south toward the valley where you and Sai ran into them."

"The boys and I followed the tracks of the new four; it looks like they came from the west. We only followed the trail back a few hours, but it was a straight line from Sand country, and they smelled like the desert." Pakkun's gravelly little voice chipped in the additional information.

Naruto picked up a stick and drew a long line in the dirt. "The border is right here" he motion to the line absently "We are here. " he drew an 'X' to mark their point about five inches out from the line "And our bad guys are right here" he marked another 'X' about one inch up and three inches in from the line of the border.

Kakashi leaned back and sucked in air gently through his mask, this was a big problem. They needed to capture the nin on their own land or else risk stepping on someone's toes. The alliance with other countries after the war was too precarious a thing to trifle with. Everyone was weak, defensive and scared of the other villages trying to subjugate them in their time of weakness. Not that they could even comprehend that everyone was weak right now and the last thing anyone wanted was another war, but it is what it is. Almost all the other countries and hidden villages held a grudge against Konoha; blaming them for the reason the war started. Obito-Tobi, Orochimaru and last but definitely not least Uchiha Sasuke, yes their village really did have a few bad apples. It just so happened that the apples that fell from the Konoha tree where very powerful, ambitious, morally questionable apples...well... that did not mean all the apples were bad, but no one was listening to him about it. That left him here with the problem of the rogue-nin in their country most likely doing unsavory deeds and needing to be apprehended for questioning by the proper channels.

Only the enemy shinobi were about four hours from the border and with more men than originally planned for. So a new strategy was needed.

Everyone watch Kakashi as he leaned back and closed his eye humming tunelessly to himself for a few minutes before he sat up with an obvious solution at hand.

"Ok, Akino and Uhei." The silver hair man pointed out his two ninken" I need you to make your way north; there is another team stationed about twenty miles from here doing some training for the Anbu recruits. Tell them the situation and to send us some back-up as soon as possible. We are going to move in on the enemy before dawn"

"Okay boss. Be careful, we will be back with help" Akino stated dutifully while stretching next to Uhei, who nodded tersely to the group before they both jetted off north into the fading light.

"I will send one of my birds back to Tsunade to inform her of the changes to the situation" Sai added as he pulled out his ink and scroll and began working on his little information bird

Naruto stood up and wiped his dirt map on the ground away with his foot. "Okay sensei so we are going in the morning to get them, great! I could use some exercise" a happy smile played upon his features.

"Naruto..." Kakashi dropped his lone eye to at his eager subordinate. "We will have to take them by surprise, we don't know what their powers are, only that they do have some high level jutsu users from what was reported. This will be an operation of stealth…"

"Yeah sensei I know. But once they already know we are there, it will be an operation of us kicking their asses." his smile grew to a broad grin.

"I think Naruto is right." Sai added with his traditional head tilt and smile.

Sakura muffled a laugh with her hand and saw Kakashi meet her eye and shake his head with a look of fake exasperation as he nodded to Naruto and Sai. "Look at our heroes…" he whispered to her with a smile tugging at the corner of his eye. She nodded and patted him on the cheek with a laugh "Attitude reflects leadership".

Kakashi ruffled her already despairingly dirty pink locks teasingly. "What's that mean little medic?"

Sakura narrowed her eyes and batted his hand away in an irritated façade before laughter escaped her lips again. "Don't make me mad Kakashi or I won't heal you tomorrow if you get hurt."

"Oh Sakura." he hummed lightly "I wonder if that's true?" he reached up, smoothed her hair back into place, and tucked it behind her ear with a soft smile. For all her bristling protest, she had saved his life several times, and it many different ways. He trusted her completely.

She looked at him and shook her head. "No…I'll heal you. I always do." She patted his leg with a sigh and a smile. Kakashi was a good man, and a wonderful friend. She wouldn't let anything happen to him, or the other guys.

"I know you will." He let his smile fall from his eye as he stood and went to talk with Sai about the details he was writing to Tsunade. He wanted to make sure this mission got handled appropriately.

The rest of the evening passed quickly, they ate a meager dinner and discussed the best way to ambush their targets. Going over the knowledge they had obtained on them before leaving the village. Knowledge was a Shinobi's most useful tool.

* * *

Naruto was the last on watch that night with Guruko, the little dark eared ninken had decided to take the watch with him that night. Now he aided Naruto in making the rounds of waking up all their sleeping comrades, which wasn't very hard. Sleep was hard to come by for all on a mission where you were mostly outnumbered and unfamiliar with the enemy potential. In only a few minutes team seven was up and ready to move out.

"Sai you take Bull and Urushi you guys move in from the north. Sakura; you, Shiba and Bisuke will come in from the south. Naruto; you, Guruko, Pakkun, and I will get between them and the border. Wait for the signal and move in quietly. Try to get them before they can react. Remember we need them alive if possible. Tsunade wants to know what they are doing here. Any questions?" Kakashi's eye moved from each teammate and ninken in turn. When he saw no questions in their eyes about what needed to be done he gave a nod "Okay good luck. See you there".

They turned and moved silently through the forest to their selected locations.

* * *

The pink hair medic crouched low to the ground, north of the group of seven sleepy ninja, Shiba and Bisuke on her sides.

The rogues had one man up on watch. He was sitting up lazily in a tree to her right; to her surprise he seemed mostly to be watching the inside of his eyelids, ' _The epitome of alert…_ 'she mused dryly.

They were dressed in generic nin clothing and had no Hitai-ate or other markings to proclaim their allegiance to a particular area. The minutes passed by, she listened to her heartbeat in her chest willing it to slow down. It was always like this before a fight. Blood pounding and senses heightened. She was thrilled and terrified in the same instant. She realized long ago she maybe some form of adrenaline junky, but in her professional opinion most Shinobi worth their weight were to some extent.

A frog croaked noisily in the bushes. Odd enough because there was no water around for miles, but the rogue-nin in the tree thought nothing of it. Sakura leaned back off her elbows and balanced on the balls of her feet, tugging on her gloves as a habit. The ninken tensed, ready for the next move.

Kakashi's lithe form materialized out of the shadows above the lounging, guard on watch. His sharingan was exposed and ready. He leaned silently out from his branch, a muscular arm reached out and grabbed the man throwing a hand over his mouth to silence his squawk of surprise and held him eye level to his twirling tomoe; the man's body slumped lifelessly onto the branch. One down, six to go.

Sakura saw Sai's snakes inching across the ground as she too began to creep toward her intended target gathering the chakra she needed in her hand, intending to block his own chakra paths to his brain silently with her medic precision and knock him out before he even knew what happened.

She was right on top of him when Sais target cried out the alarm and threw everyone into panic. Sakura's green eyes met the shocked look of the ninja inches away from her own. "Too slow." she whispered with an apologetic smile. She left stealth behind for a different approach. Channeling the power into her arm with speed and strength, that Tsunade would be proud of, she slammed her fist into the man's head before he could react. He was knocked out cold, but alive.

The rest of the battle crashed in on her after she handled her original target. Naruto's kage-bushin were overwhelming one man who was attempting to ward off the assault with a high level earth jutsu, trying to swallow up all the Narutos' into the ground. "G_ood luck with that…_" The more he knockedout of existence, the more that came. It was a never ending battle and the enemy ninja had been taken by surprise.

Sai's ink tigers were working over one man, while his snakes had already restrained his first target pinning him to the ground. The Anbu artist was in his element with the ambush attack and knew just how to strike.

Kakashi had moved closer to her in the midst of a taijutsu battle with a monster of a man who was as light on his feet as Kakashi was himself. The silver haired Jounin sprang forward to lash out with a chakra infused punch only to be blocked. He then dropped low placing his hands on the ground for balance while kicking his leg out to slam into the big man's chest. The beast of a man stumbled back with a huff and began making hand signals for a jutsu to pay Kakashi back for his well-aimed strike; He never got a chance to finish.

Sakura leapt forward sending chakra to her feet to lock herself to the ground and grabbed the man as best she could from behind using her power to increase the strength in her arms and back. She lifted him up over her head with one movement and threw him down behind her, viciously slamming his body into the ground with a resounding crash, piling him into the ground in his own cozy crater.

She righted herself, as satisfying moan of agony escaped the big man and he mumbled his eyes flickering open to stare at his bare feet dangling in front of his face "I didn't even get to put my shoes on..." She leaned over him "We will find you some more in Konoha..." and sent a shock of chakra to his brain, over stimulating it and causing him to black out.

She looked up again. All the enemies were being subdued. The ninken had the last man held down by his arms and legs and throat as Kakashi leaned into put him to sleep with his sharingan. He tried to turn away but the strong jaws of the hounds kept him in place. He squinted, his eyes shut tightly but the copy-nin would not be thwarted by closed eyes. "Ah ah ah...open your eyes it won't hurt" He placed a finger on the man's eyes and pried them open. The last enemy went limp in the mouths of the dogs.

* * *

After all the nin were trussed up and restrained properly, the pink haired medic got down to business. She scoured her teammates for wounds, her brow furrowing tightly as she spotted blood dripping from a gash on Naruto's thigh which he had failed to tell her about.

"It's okay Sakura-chan really!" he cried as she shoved him to the ground to inspect his injury slapping his hand away as he tried in futility to push her away.

"Naruto, I will knock you out unless you stop squirming like a baby…" She stated harshly causing the blonde to sigh and relax under her care. He could be such a girl sometimes. She placed her hands gently on his leg and began meshing his muscle fibers back together.

"Really Naruto, your quadriceps tendon was almost completely severed...and you were...what...going to walk it off?" she scowled at him.

He shrugged sheepishly and lifted his arm to scratch the back of his head in embarrassment. "I am a very fast healer, Sakura-chan. I don't want you to use all your chakra on me."

"Naruto, I am the medic for a reason. And it's to use my chakra to heal you idiots." He was silent after that. She did have a point, and arguing with Sakura about her medic stuff, well he had been down that road and had never come close to even half-way making a dent in her logic. He only ended up with a few extra dents in his head and pride for all his effort. All of which she promptly healed once he acquiesced to her.

Sai was no worse for wear after she looked him over just a few scrapes nothing that needed attention and he sat perfectly still as she searched him, wearing his smile all the while. "I did read when a woman looks for excuses to touch a man, it shows that she is interested in him on a more primitive level and may be seeking a way into a physical relationship." His smile grew slightly.

_'Yep Sai is fine' _she pursued her lips smacked him softly over the head for good measure. "Is that physical enough for you Sai?" She laughed and ruffled his hair as he moved to pat the spot on his head she had attacked.

Kakashi had long ago accepted the fact that under her watch, everyone would be checked over willingly or not. With this in mind he leaned back against a tree trunk in the shade and pulled his black shirt up over his abdomen to his chest and pointed to an enormous bruise that was forming over his entire right side. "Sakura...this is a problem." He had covered his sharingan again and looked down at the bruise with his exposed eye and glared at it. The bruise stayed impassively silent under the harsh gaze of the copy-nin.

Sakura huffed and shook her head, causing Kakashi to pat her head with a grin "Our brave little medic, remember?" She looked up and narrowed her eyes at the masked-man before her. "Kakashi… half of your ribs are broken." Her hands skated over his chest probing with her chakra. The depth of the injury caused him to shudder slightly her warm, soothing chakra brushed against the hidden wounds.

She pulled back and leveled her gaze at him "Are you having a hard time breathing?"

Kakashi shrugged nonchalantly. Yes he was. "I thought maybe I was just out of shape...old...and couldn't catch my breath as well as everyone else?" His eye creased at his little lie. Really he just hated being doted on but this was Sakura and she would dote, and she doted violently if her patient was not compliant.

The battle with the big man was more than he expected though. '_How could he be so big and so fast?' _The giant had landed a really nice chakra juiced punch to his side which was now the subject of Sakura's concern. Really it was that guys fault. Not his.

"Yeah you're out of shape" The statement leaked with her sarcasm. The copy-nin may have had a few years on his teammates but physically he was in his prime.

She turned her attention back to his tattered ribs that were now turning a beautiful shade of the color purple. "Okay...your right lung has been punctured just a bit by your broken rib." She forced chakra into her fingertips and plunged herself into her work, re-setting his bones together and mending his injured lung as he leaned against the tree for support.

"Thank you for body slamming the big guy into the ground for me, I was just about to do that when you showed up..."

She smiled and shrugged. "Sorry, you know me…always trying to show off."

"I know. I usually don't say anything, but you overstepped the line trying to save me like that." He quirked a brow as he reprimanded her softly. The joke and appreciation reflected in his eyes.

She looked up briefly to catch his eye staring down at her with a happy crease and grinned back warmly. _'I love these idiots.'_

* * *

After half an hour of work she withdrew and ran a hand over her brow to wipe away the sweat that had formed as she tried to piece her obstinate team leader back together again. She frowned as she saw smears of blood on the back of the hand.

"Sakura, you have a cut on your head" she glanced up at Kakashi as he trailed a finger over her scalp. He pushed her Hitai-ate back and there is was. A long laceration in her head nestled under her pink hair.

"I'm sorry I didn't see it before now, your hair was of hiding it and then your Hitai-ate is covering a lot of it too." He apologized. The sight of her injury made him feel guilty deep in the pit of his stomach, he should have noticed it.

She felt along his fingers to explore the area he had traced for her in her own hair "It's not your fault I don't pay attention."

He held her hand tightly for a second, looked into her eyes. Her breath caught in her chest as she stared back at him. Why was he so close?

"You have to take care of yourself too Sakura. What would we do if you got hurt?" She could feel the heat of his breath through his mask.

"Okay..." She squeaked and cleared her throat awkwardly. _'Get a grip…'_ She told herself. She had been up close and personal with this team for a long time. They didn't have a concept of personal space anymore. It was all shared space.

Kakashi moved away silently to check on the captured shinobi and begin searching through the tiny campsite, while Sakura gathered her chakra and tended to her own wound.

* * *

Two hours after dawn the rogue-nins were all awake. They had been properly secured and spent their time throwing wary glances at their leaf captors. Team seven had already collected a handful of intel they had with them that needed to be decoded once they got home. The mission seemed extremely successful.

Naruto had already begun to whine about the need to go to Ichiraku's as soon as they returned, to celebrate.

Kakashi motioned for them all to gather a little ways away from the rogue-nin wanting to be out of earshot of the enemy. Even if they were secured, being careful was never a bad idea.

"Sakura and Sai keep an eye on the prisoners. I'm going to go ahead and meet the Anbu team and bring them up to speed. I think I've seen at least two of them the bingo books." He pointed to Naruto. "There shouldn't be any problems but just in case, you and the dogs go out and keep up a patrol around the area. It should only be a few hours before I return with the back-up."

"Umm...are you sure it's okay to leave just Sai and I here with all seven of these guys? You just said some of them made the bingo books." Sakura voiced, not wanting to sound scared but also not going to go unheard.

"They are all very well restrained. Knock them back out if you feel more comfortable, or have Sai's snakes drain their chakra. It will be fine, but I need to get the Anbu here and the quicker the better. Waiting around anything could happen and we can't carry all these men back alone. We need to hurry. We are on the border of River country and sitting here like this is asking for trouble."

"I will put my chakra snakes on them now; to be safe." Sai added with a helpful smile "Kakashi-sempai is right. We need to get these guys back quickly."

With that Kakashi turned and disappeared into the forest. Naruto and four of the dogs quickly followed, everyone going in separate directions to keep a patrol out around the area. Bull and Pakkun stayed behind to help keep watch over the tied up shinobi.

Sakura and Sai had no choice but to wait and watch. Eyes trained on the prisoners for signs of deception. It was boring. Nothing was happening. They just sat there calmly in the shade and watched the sun pass through the sky.

Time ticked slowly by.

Noise blasted the silence like a bomb, Sakura and Sai both jumped up weapons drawn. Ready for whatever was about to happen as they placed themselves near their captives.

Sai glanced around nervously trying to pinpoint where the noise was, or what it was. It was like the fire crackers at festival only much, much louder. It seemed to come from all around them. Then he felt earth exploded beneath his feet. He got knocked back into the trunk of a nearby tree by force of the blast, knocking the air from his lungs with an audible gasp as he landed. He dropped to one knee.

Sakura dove out of the way and only caught the edge of the explosion causing her to roll on the ground and jump up looking around for the attacker.

At the edge of the clearing stood three other ninja, and their captives began struggling at their restraints for the first time since they were caught, trying to shout to the newcomers for help.

"…. I think they came to meet their friends." Sai called breathlessly to her as he fought to regain his composure and right himself on both feet.

"I see that Sai..." She didn't say anything about Kakashi and Naruto, the less the enemy knew the better. Naruto would have heard the explosion, and if not the dogs would smell the enemy on their patrol. Soon they would have some sort of backup.

Sakura tugged her gloves tighter on her hands and reached deep inside to scrape the bottom of her chakra reserve. She had already used so much with the heavy pace they used on the mission to catch up the enemies. Then the fight this morning and healing her team had drained her further. A slight pang of worry coursed through her system. _'Can we hold off the three fresh shinobi, one of whom had an invisible exploding jutsu?" _ Sakura scolded herself mentally. She couldn't afford to a worry.

Sai was up and tearing out his scroll and ink preparing to do battle with the enemy in front of him, only the alarmed gruff sound of Bull's deep bark caused her to turn around.

Three more ninja had appeared behind them slowly making their way to the captives.

She glanced at the smug faces of her prisoners. They were not rushing to cross the simply border because they had been waiting for more people. That was why they were watching the sky all morning, not because they were resigned to their fates, but because they were waiting for their comrades to come save them. _ A _cold stone of dread dropped in her stomach as she forced a determined grin to spread over her features, in contrast with her feelings. This was not good.

She looked at Sai and met his dark eyes, a silent understanding passing between them. He nodded in agreement, they were going to stand and fight_._

_'Naruto and Kakashi had better hurry up.'_

* * *

**_A/N_**

**_Congrats you made it. I'm working on editing these first few chaps. I didn't have a beta and editing is my least fav thing in the world. Besides styrafoam and soggy cereal of course...*shudder* so gross._**

_Thanks to Inume-blue for helping me through all our computer woes get all the editing terror in this chap under control. Much love! XD_


	2. Blood, Smoke and Fire

_Warning: This chap is dark, violent and bloody. If that bothers you just skip to the end I put a little summary._

**_Blood, Smoke and fire_**

* * *

The noise began again. She was vividly aware, from the last attack that she had a small window of time between the noise beginning,and the explosion. Sakura looked over at Sai to see if he had covered any ground in discerning the source of or a counter for the invisible-fire-cracker-exploding jutsu. He was looking back at her with a slightly worried stare.

_'no ground'_

Sakura firmly thought that Sai should appear calm and composed in face of the impending battle, to reassure her waning confidence. It was more a mirror of her own confusion reflecting back at her.

The crackling be louder, she turned to do a quick sweep around her immediate area and balked. The Three ninja behind were nonchalantly walking up to their captives. Her eyes narrowed slightly. She was offended that they thought so little of the pink haired ninja and the pale man that had been left to keep and restrain the men on the ground.

_'oh sure, just walk right in and take them...we are totally ok with that..' _

What did they think, that they just politely asked the enemy to be bound and gagged earlier that morning... and..what.. their friends just neatly complied with a nod and a smile?

"Sai!" she called out and motioned to the approaching nin. Not waiting for his response she quickly she move trying intercept the trio of trespassers that were closing in on their targets. They could not free their comrades. That could not happen. They had to hold out till back-up arrived. Naruto would be there any minute with his swarm of clones and the rest of the ninken.

_'a big swarm..' _

She saw her opening and moved, ready create a large crack in the earth to separate the prisoners from the rescuers. Adrenaline fueled her chakra into her right arm as the tiny pink tank prepared to slam her fist into the ground. "Sai, we need to stop them from getting to the - - - - -"

The tree she was beside vanished, something went in her eye. There was the cracking sound then silence except for a high-pitched whine.

She got slammed on her back and scrambled up in confusion, caught between figuring out if her feet where actually on the ground or if she was still on her back so she stood there unsteadily, listening to the shrill whine. She looked over to her shoulder see how Sai was doing. The dust and debris clung to the air clouding it, thickly like a fog, choking her.

_'where is Sai?'_

She looked around again and found him on the opposite side of where he had been. The kunoichi staggered, bent over like a drunk trying to walk off a week long bender. Blinking she tried to clear her vision as Sai mouthed something at her, with an extremely urgent look on his face. She noted briefly in an illogical area of her brain that he was very upset if he was showing that much emotion in his face. It didn't matter she couldn't hear him. Only that shrill whine. She stood up straighter and took a step forward to where the Rouge-nin were held, only she wasn't facing them she was facing the first three ninja. Apparently she had gotten turned around in the blast

The shock was beginning to wear off, her face was starting to burn horribly.

Sai had released his lions into the war zone, the surreal white and black ink warriors looming in on the three flanking Ninja, trying to get them to back down. Jutsu's and chakra where flying everywhere. Sai was on one of the newcomers, he had pulled out his short sword and was puting the man back on his heels, that was until a different intruder stepped up and with series of hands seals and a deep inhale of breath released a fireball jutsu on Sai as his comrade side-stepped the onslaught of heat. Sai tried to maneuver out of its path unsuccessfully.

Pakkun and Bull where trying to get to Sai but where having a hard time with a tall sickly looking Nin who was bending out of the dogs reaches in a completely unnatural way as if he were made from rubber, the snarls, growls and yelps adding to the din of battle

Sakura was on her way to back-up Sai when she was stopped by a tall dark skinned powerful looking shinobi, who grinned down at her in a decidedly un-friendly manner.

_'where is naruto and kakashi?'_

The smiling ninja attacked.

She ducked under his strong right armed blow, diving in closer to him as she did so. Crouched down she aimed her own punch at his left leg, chakra zipping down her arm to her fist to smash at his knee cap.

"_oh.."_

She missed.

Her fist did nothing but cause a light breeze. The swarthy shinobi had used his momentum and jumped over her when his own strike failed to hit its target. They danced this at dance of hits and misses for seconds, minutes, or it could have been hours. All they knew at that moment each other and everything else faded in to black. Lunge, grunt, strike, miss, inhale, back, step, gasp, block ,duck, kick, lunge, exhale.

Sakura's heart was pounding she needed to create an opening. She needed this to stop. She needed to catch her breath. She needed more chakra. She needed to get to Sai. Turning and lunging forward for she tried for another punch

'_..not..' _

at the last minute she change her direction and slammed her fist into the ground in front of the dark shinobi. The earth shattered, he eyed her with disbelief, his look accusing her of cheating in their little game. He fumbled for balance and began to fall back. A surge of delight gave a twang in her chest, she had him if he lost his balance, she moved into further his disarray.

A white light in her vision and a sharp heavy pain to the side of her head stopped her advancement. she was thrown, rolling to the ground a few feet away. Another enemy, a women with alarmingly red hair and a large jagged scar her neck had stopped her advancement.

Sakura glanced around in a daze. She had been knocked a few feet away and had landed up against a large boulder. She gathered herself to get up while taking in the scene around her. All the Rouge-nin from that morning had been released. Sai was on his back across the clearing. He was in a completely un-natural position, his left leg and arm bent impossibly under him. A huge burn had scorched the clothing off the right side of his body and the raw blacked skin shown underneath. She could not tell if he was breathing. Her heart flopped around in her chest weakly.

_'no..sai..don't be gone..'_

Pakkun sat feet from Sai, the little pug shuddering under the effort to stay upright. Blood dripped down his face and chest. He made a brief effort to stand trying to work his way to Sai, it was too much, he flopped on his side and lay still struggling to cling to life.

A lump formed in her throat. What was happening?! How could this happen. Kakashi said they would be fine. Where was he? Where was Naruto? She felt the threat of tears behind her eyes and refused to give in.

_'you don't cry now, not now. Now you fight'_

The large man who had done battle with Kakashi earlier moved in with a delighted smile " I'll finish her off guys, the little bitch surprised me this morning. Now we will fight fair" The large mans voice came out in a light soprano tone, not at all what anyone seeing him would suspect. He sounded like a school girl, though no-one in their right mind would tell _him_ that.

Sakura dragged her feet under her and stood up yet again. She set herself in a weary stance, squaring up and evening out like she had been doing for years. She tried to come up with some sort of strategy, eyeing all the enemies around her. None of it really seemed very fair to her. Shikamaru would have a problem stratagizing this.

_".. shadow possesion would be really helpful right now"_

" Shes already almost finished Konta, whats your point?. " huffed the impatient voice of a short, pale, blonde women.

"Well then I won't take too long, Shichai. I was about to kill Hatake Kakashi the freaking copy-nin and she ruined everything!" Kontas high voice sang out angrily

_' He wasn't even close to killing Kakashi' _the thought zip through her muddled mind as she listened

Konta waltzed up to the little pink haired medic, his features twisting into what she was sure he thought was a very intimidating face, it more looked like he just ate a lemon. Sakura stood there watching him approach. Her head pounded so loudly and painfully she couldn't tell if it was his footsteps or thunder or her heart or maybe her brain was leaking out of her ears. The monster named Konta came to a stop a few feet from her and she looked at him and glanced down and then back up to his face. Her expression pulled into a painful grin.

"You still don't have any shoes..." she trailed off her eyes fluttering as she gave a gurgled choked laugh.

Konta shrugged with a grotesque smile, and lurched forward with a right punch ment to smash her face into the back of her skull.

He didn't know who she was. He did not know she was the Hokages apprentice. He did not know she had chakra control to rivial Tsunade herself. He did not know she had just enough energy left to side step his punch. He did not know she was going to grab his out stretched right wrist. He did not know she was going to jerk him off-balance. He did not know what do do when she spun him around with the wrist she now had locked down with chakra enforced hands. He did not know how to stop himself as he tottered on his right leg precariously.

She planted one foot on the ground and launched her other into his armpit with all the chakra she had left. His eyes went wide. He knew what was about to happen.

* * *

The copy-nin had found had found the Anbu team a few hours out. It had taken longer because they were out doing scouting training and had to round-up a squad before they could move out, the captain had explained. Kakashi briefed them quickly on what had happened as they made a quick pace back to his teammates.

He didn't want to leave them alone for so long out here on the border, they needed to move those men back to Konoha before anything bad could happen.

The Anbu team, silver jounin and the pair of Ninken ground to a stop among the trees as a strange noise rang through the forest.

"What the hell is that?" one of the masked men asked with a puzzled tone

Kakashis heart sank, it was coming from camp. "We have to hurry they are only about twenty minutes from here." The whole group launched itself toward the noise.

A few minutes of travel and the smells hit him. Blood, fire, smoke. The dogs could smell it too and began an anxious whine. The sharingan user increased his pace and pulled up his hitai-ate.

Soon enough the Anbu team could smell it too, knew the smells of battle.

* * *

The blonde and the dogs were keeping up a patrol around the area about ten minutes from camp, in a big circle '_This_ _is so boring I can't wait to get back home and celebrate at Ichirakus with the team_' Naruto mused to himself as he moved through the trees. He glanced down at the ninken with him.

"Hey do you think you guys want to come to Ichirakus with us when we get back?" he didn't know if the dogs would want to or if it was allowed but, if anyone wanted to argue the Ninken where as much a part of this team as anyone else and it was bad business in Konoha to deny a ninja. "They let Shino and his bugs eat there, I'm sure they wont care if we bring some Ninken." Ok so he didn't think that they served the bugs, but hey whatever.

The dog stayed silent leaping right beside him.

"Hey, it's just an idea..."

The ninken failed to reply again.

Naruto looked around, and began to take in his surroundings. Nothing really seemed strange as he moved though the forest on patrol but something was off. He looked at his silent companion and narrowed his eyes. His discomfort grew exponentially. Something was really off.

It hit him all at once.

He hadn't cross paths with the other dogs in a while. The sun hadn't moved in the sky. His chatty ninken was silent. It was all wrong. When did this happen

Throwing his hands together he formed the hand signs he needed "Kai!"

The world popped and everything changed.

He was sitting beneath a tree, all the ninken surrounding him in a similar fashion. The sun had traveled farther through the sky it was right overhead now. He had been trapped in a genjutsu and not realised it

The noise of a large fight hit him it was coming from where Sai and Sakura where.

"shit shit shit shit shit..." He jump to his feet and moved quickly bring the dogs back to their senses. The hounds jumped unsteadily to their feet and glanced around putting what had just happened together with the sounds of battle that were echoing through the forest. They were off in seconds traveling toward the roar of chaos in front of them.

They had only been moving through the trees for a minute or so before the one of the Ninken barked out a loudly to grab his attention.

"Kakashi and the Anbu are over there"

Narutro veered to the left and soon slammed right into the midst of his team-leader and Anbu squad. Evidently they had been aware of Narutos approaching because no-one seemed surprised to see him. The panic in the blondes eyes shone back in the eyes of the copy-nin, he had already exposed his sharingan in preparation for the fight.

"Naruto what happend, you were on patrol with the dogs!?" Kakashis distress at the fact that he now knew the promise of back-up from Naturo had obviously fallen through. Sai and Sakura were facing whatever was happening all alone.

"I don't know sensei, We all got caught in a genjutsu! Even the dogs. It still felt like we were on patrol..I'm sorry. I didn't even feel anyone around us none of us did" Narutos voice was swimming with the guilt he felt at letting his teammates fall in to danger. They needed him and he was not there.

The crackling sound echoed through the trees as they continued to progress toward the fight

* * *

Sakura opened her eyes.

_'I have eyes, dead people don't have eyes...I must still be alive'_

She tried to laugh triumphantly and couldn't remember how_._ The pink haired mess settled for looking in front of her and trying to figure what she was seeing instead.

_'Dirt...and red...red dirt..' _

She moved her head to the side and saw the rouge-nin pointing to the trees behind them and then they moved quickly and flickered out of her vision.

The whining screech was back in here ears. She pushed against the ground to get up her hands and knees, swaying with the effort of it. She took in her surroundings as best she could. The rouge-nin and their rescuers had disappeared completely from the area.

She place one foot under her and attempted to stand, she wobbled on the foot for a second and then added her other leg crouching on the red muddy dirt. Her eyes rolling back and fluttering as she tried to regain her composure.

_'1...2...3...up'_

She leveled out her balance and stood. It seemed such a long way up, it took forever to get there. Was she always so tall?. She stepped forward with no particular destination in mind, the world would not stop moving under her feet, it was being very irritating.

She opened her eyes back up, when had she shut them again? Casting a drunken gaze around she caught sight of Sai and Pakkun on the ground across the clearing and took a step toward her teammates. She tripped and pitched forward landing on the trunk of a tree chest first, her face scraping against the rough bark. She turned her head painfully to see to see what she had tripped on.

_'an arm..._'

She looked slowly down to check herself.

_'Still both there...not mine...lots of blood on me... is it mine?' _

She continued to look around ,the ground was not red she realised, it was muddy with blood.

_ 'Some of that is_ mine'

She wanted it back.

Using both the hands, she now knew she had, The exhausted medic righted herself again and took a few wobbly steps toward her downed comrades. Her brain's gears trying to creak into action. She stared at Sai and Pakkun.

_ 'They need help, I am a medic. I could help.'_

The throbbing in head added to the whine in her ears. She put a hand up to her head to find the source of the throbbing and pulled it away when she felt a sticky bloody mess, fingers slick with her own blood.

_'I think I need help too..'_

She made it about five feet from Sai and her vision flickered out again her legs went out from under her only to pop back into reality again mid collapse and flop back down hard on her knees. She sat back on her heels and looked around dazed.

_'Where are Kakashi and Naruto'_

Dragging in a deep breath she ran her hands over her shirt trying to wipe of the blood and winced at a very sharp pain in her side. Her hands brushed against something hard. She stared down a long object was sticking out from directly above her left hip bone.

_'That should not be there...'_

She continued staring at it mesmerised by the forgien object

_'what is that?...an arrow?...seems weird.."_ her brain chugged along for a while searching for an answer "..._hmmm..nope..a peice of tree_" she had an odd moment of pleasure at guessing it correctly. The tree shrapnel was about two inches thick and hiding deep inside of her. She held her hands around it and wondered what to do next.

"**Sakuraaaaa Saaakurraaa"**

She leaned back and looked at the sky blinking in confusion. _'what is that noise'_

* * *

Kakashi heart caught in his throat as he and the others exploded on to the scene of the battle. All the captives were gone. The campsite was destroyed. trees were burning and knocked over. Huge craters littered the ground. Smoke and dust filled the air.

Everything stood still for a second in time as all eyes came to rest on the red haired women in the back corner of the campsite.

She was sitting back with her knees folded under her. Sakuras hair was red now. _"It is suppose to be pink, now it was red"_ Kakashi thoughts latched on to anything they could. Her hands gently cupped something at her stomach and she was staring in front of her.

Kakashis eyes followed her gaze and he saw Pakkun laying on his side bloody, Sai a few feet from is little companion all broken and burned.

Kakashis mouth went dry and he felt bile rise up in his throat, cold sweat seemed to break all over his body as he tried to call out her name. His brave little medic. His voice was caught in his throat. His emotions ran un-checked through him. He was scared, mad, angry, guilty all at the same time. The Konoha copy-nin was feeling his world crumble under his feet.

Naruto flipped and started running over to his teammates "Sakura. Sai!" he screamed trying to get her attention. The happy-go-lucky blonde boy was kneeling in the blood caked dirt next to his fallen teammates. His hands outstreached for help. His voice cracking with fear and desperation, tears begining to roll helplessly down his dirt smudged face. "Sakura, tell me what to do! Tell me what to do! Tell me how to help!" he pleaded with her.

Sakura looked at him in a daze and looked back down at the tree she had invading her abdomen. She opened her mouth to speak but all that came out was a cough and a trickle of blood.

The dogs where everywhere half of them rushing to their fallen comrades the others picking up the enemy trail

"We got the trail! Kakashi We have the Trail" Shibas voice whined urgently to him, the dog already darting off to follow it.

Kakashi was frozen in place with shock, untill an Anbu grabbed him by the shoulder

"kakashi-sempai! You have to go you are the best tracker here, our medics will handle this. Find them! Get them for this"

He grabbed the un-known man by his shoulder and drew him in close coming close to yelling at him, shoulders shaking with emotion "Do **_Not_** let them die! Don't let them fucking die!"

He called his dogs, noting the absence of his little pug and giant bulldog sharply as the pack gathered. He shoved his emotions to the back of his brain and focused on one feeling only. He was livid and needed justice for his teammates. They picked up the trail Shiba had found and moved out a handful of Anbu trackers melted away from the squad to follow along with him.

* * *

**Summary time:**

_So the new 6 nin came to meet their little 7 nin friends on the border. surprise they had been captured. Naruto was out patroling with 4 ninken about 10 mins out of the campsite where Sai and sakura are. He and the dogs get genjutsued into believing they are still making the rounds on patrol. ( can dogs get put under a genjutsu..well they just did lol) He figures out what happened busts out the "KAI" and releases it...The all begin moving in the direction of the sounds of battle coming from the camp site..._

_Meanwhile back on the farm Kakashi found the Anbu and his 2 other ninken, they were out training recruits different espionage type deals so they took longer to round up the squad, he finds them debrief them and starts leading them to the campsite. about 20min out they hear the first KaBOOm and rush to get there..along the way they meet Naruto *Gasp* Naruto you are not there to back them up? *tears* nope got stuck in a genjutsu...fail_

_Sakura and Sai, Pakkun and Bull try to fight..against...6ish high lvl ninja with some of them have Kaarazzy Kekkei Genkai,one dude has some kind of invisible exploding fire cracker jutsu thingy...( I need a better name for it i know) ..another guy is a rubber man._

_Anywho. Try as they try and try they do...they all end up with asses handed to them...and the rouge-nin captives get set loose..Although...pretty sure Sakura ripped a guys arm off. So cool._

_Kakashi, Naruto, Anbu and Ninken show up *way to be late guys*_

_The badguys had already taken off...seemingly aware that the back up was arriving and they fled back toward the border._

__ Prognosis Negative __

_Sai- is all broken and fk'd up...also he is badly burned..we don't know if he is alive (well I know)_

_Pakkun- Poor little guy is in a bad way, a little bloody mess clinging to life_

_Sakura- has some major head trama, and probably some burns and part of a tree is sticking out of tummy _

_Bull-MIA (noo I didn't forget him)_

_Kakashi and Naruto are flipping. Naruto is freaking out trying to get Sakura to be alert and tell him how he can help (he is no medic but he tries lol) Kaka-san is frozen in place...his ninken tell him they found the enemy trail..Anbu guys say "hey dude your the best tracker in Konoha..help us" he goes to track them down..torn about leaving his friends.._

* * *

**A/N**

**OK so this is the end part of the action for now... Yep...its still KakaxSaku I promise**

I love reviews

/\_/\

Ninken


	3. So sorry

**So Sorry**

* * *

The first time Sakura woke up she was in unbelievable agony. Her head felt like thunder splitting open her brain and rumbling in her ears. She tried to open her eyes and couldn't see. Her body was heavy and weighed down she attempted to sit up but could only manage to shrug her shoulders and clench her fingers. Reaching in to herself she struggled to focus on her chakra network. Focus would not come to her. An unfamiliar voice echoed through her disoriented state and she tried to decipher it.

"Haruno- - - severely -. You need - - still. - - taking you-Anbu-."

_' hnnn?'_

She wanted to ask about her teammates, she needed to know what was happening. The words would not come, her face was searing with pain and she only managed a small whimper.

A bird was singing joyously in the distance which seemed rude, nothing should be so happy when she hurt so much. Someone was yelling in a frantic voice, someone she knew but couldnt recall. Another person was moaning in agony, several voices added to the cacophony of noise and she couldn't focus on them all. Her head was splitting open and she felt herself getting sick. The enormous amount of pain that she felt was unbearable. Was she always going to be like this? Was she ever going to heal? Was she dieing?

A hand touched her shoulder in a reassuring squeeze.

"...Sakura-going-of-rest-"

She felt something wet on her upper arm then the pinch of a syringe .

_'..no...'_ She thought before sliding back into her dreamless mercy.

* * *

The second time she woke she jumped into conciousness like a light flicking on in a dark room. She sat up sharply and flung herself backward her back slamming into the wall behind her. She was in horrible pain and something was over her face. The terrified kunoichi reached up to grab at what was blinding her. A strong hand dropped down on her wrist and held her still. She froze, uncertain of how to defend herself from her attacker.

"Sakura, don't take that off yet. They will be in soon to remove it for you."

Relief flooded through her entire body. The tension she felt faded away and she relaxed. She Turned her own hand to latch on to the fingers that had stopped her moments before. She knew that voice, although it sounded battered and tired she knew him. "Ka-" she tried to speak but her voice escaped her control and came out as a dry croak. Her mouth was a desert and her tongue was sandpaper. Attempting to clear her throat only brought on a new wave of horror as the movement caused an intense pulse of pain down her left side. She grimace and squeezed his hand tighter.

"Here...take this"

She heard the rustling of papers to her right and the unmistakable sound of liquid being poured. A few seconds later a straw moved against her lips , she took it greedily. Draining the water in the cup quickly. She was so thirsty.

"not too fast Sakura..."

The battle worn woman took another sip and leaned her head back gently against the cool wall, already exhausted.

"Kakashi" her voice surprised her, it sounded fragile and corse like dry rustling leaves. "what happened? Where are we?" She still had his hand gripped tightly in her own and brought it up to her face drawing him in closer. She rested her chin on his palm, and moved both of her hands to hold at his forearm. She needed any kind of physical contact she could get in her own little dark world, to prove she was really there.

Kakashi watched the courageous teammate in front of him. She had been sleeping fitfully only seconds before. Now she was clinging to his arm like it was a life-line. Her voice and face screaming out her confusion to him. His heart dropped in his chest and weighed him down with shame and guilt. He cupped her chin gently, his thumb absently rubbing against her un-bandaged left cheek as he lowered himself to sit gingerly on the right side of the bed beside her, careful not to jostle her injured body.

"I'm so sorry Sakura. I should not have left you and Sai alone, this is all my fault. I'm so sorry to have failed you again. You and Sai got ambushed at the campsite where we captured the Rouge-nin Tsunade sent us after, Do you remember?"

Her body stiffened one of her hands dropped from his arm. The broken fragments of that day began creeping back to her.

She remembered sliding up on the sleeping nin. Executing a perfect strategy with minor injury to her team while subduing the enemy. At first it was a success. Then it turned in to brutal slaughterhouse of failure. The three newcomers approaching, then being flanked by more. She felt panicked. She remembered the smell, the burning, the explosions. She remembered the feeling of hopelessness as she stood for what she was sure was her last time.

Kakashi continued stroking her cheek softly as he watched her process the information and pieceing together her own facts. He couldn't see her eyes under all the wraps she was wearing, he wished he could look into them and apologise to her again and again and make her understand his regret. Instead he stayed silent watching her recall the thoughts of the mission gone so wrong.

"I remember" she croaked and said no more _'what more could I say, I remember smelling Sais burned flesh and watching Pakkun get slammed through a tree? I remember waiting for help and help never coming. I remember the sound of my own skin ripping . I remember the hopelessness of knowing your about to die, and dieing a failure'_

The copy-nin watched as she built her walls up around her feelings, and slammed the locked door in his face. She refused to say anymore about that day.

He would hear about it of course when she made her own mission report and debriefed the Hokage, but he had wanted her to confide in him. To trust him with her feelings like she had when Sasuke had finally been brought back to the village beaten and broken over a year ago.

Sakura had turned to _him_ at that moment, out of everyone in the village. She talked with him for hours going over her own obscure thoughts on their rouge team-mate. How she hated him so much for what he did, how she still cared about what happened to him. How betrayed she felt because of what he did. And when she learned about Itachi's tragic life, how sad she felt for him.

She couldn't confide in Naturo, the ever faithful boy still visited Sasuke everyday and urged the Hokage to lessen his punishments and allow him more freedom. Sakura on the other hand had gone to see Sasuke only a handful of times and never alone, claiming she could understand his anger but never forgive or trust him again. Kakashi felt similarly. He had even nodded his remorseful approval when Tsunade voiced her thoughts on perhaps just eliminating the Uchiha boy, and not dealing with his threat anymore. The charges had been set to a lesser degree. The uchiha was spending his days in a large cell with chakra depletesr on his wrists, ankles and neck. Everyone ,except Naturo, had agreed to that for the time being.

Kakashi continued to sit the silence with his pink haired teammate, as she combed through her thoughts. Searching for answers and putting together the puzzle that was the failed mission. She looked so tiny and frail, not the vibrant girl that made him laugh. Her skin was a pale white from the blood loss and was missing its usual healthy sheen. He reached up and brushed a few strands of loose hair from her face that she had not, could not notice because of the bandages over her eyes. Her pink hair was disheveled in a way she would have never allowed if she were not injured. Ugly scrapes and bruises littered her body in a mottled pattern. They had been much worse he was told, but the Anbu medics had been coming in regularly and healing where and what they could. He brushed the end of his thumb against a bruise on her cheekbone just below the white gauze that wrapped her head, she winced lightly at the touch.

He was dimly aware of how inappropriate this would seem if the higher-ups saw him consorting with a younger female subordinate on such a personal level. But this was his Sakura ,his brave little medic and he had caused her all of this pain with his failure as a leader. He would be here for her when she needed it. A tiny voice in his head told him that he was getting as much comfort out of being near her as she was receiving from being with him. He just wanted to sit in her presence and know she was going to be okay. That she was going to survive this and life would go on. He exhaled slowly, wondering if she would still seek him out and find comfort in his company after this was all over.

He cleared his throat lightly and decided to fill the prolonged silence. Wanting to help her find the missing pieces of the puzzle she so desperately sought to put together.

"We got there right after the enemy shinobi left. They must have sensed us coming. The Anbu squad and their medics brought you here to their training outpost after they administer emergency care and you were well enough to transport. You have been here for four days now. It had been five days since the attack."

"I tracked the ninja over the border with the ninken and some of the Anbu hunter-nin that were with us. We caught up to them eventually, and lost a few Anbu in the process and took down four of their own. We were able to capture one man alive, although he was already severly injured. His arm seems to have been ripped off by somthing very strong. He is waiting transport back to Konoha for questioning"

He dropped his hand from her face as he retold his story, her hand still limply holding his wrist that draped across her lap. "We just returned about an hour ago. I had to radio Tsunade and up-date her on the situation. I came heer as soon as I was able"

Sakura nodded "...I ripped his arm out of his shoulder..he was going to kill me.." and image flashed in her mind, how she sent the large man sprawling away, his arm still held firmly in her own hands. The artireial spray from his severed shoulder had blinded her briefly. Then came the crackling noise across the field. She had tried to move out of the way but was too slow.

Kakashi sat in silence as he listened unable to come up with anything to ease her troubled mine, he entwined his hand with her own and gave a gentle squeeze.

"Where is everyone else?" her voice was hesitant afraid of his answer.

The copy-nin was silent for a beat.

"Naruto is here, he has been by your side the entire time. Tsunade wanted to speak with him and get his side of the mission. I sent him to radio her and told him to get some food and rest. Im sure he will be back soon, though. Sakura the enemy trapped him in a genjutsu with the dogs, thats why he didn't come ..."

She nodded absently to his explanation as he continued.

"Pakkun and Bull are being cared for also there is an Inuzuka at the outpost and he knows animal chakra networks. Pakkun had a lot of internal injuries and has not woken up yet. Bull was found buried beneath a turned over tree, both back legs where broken and he lost an ear. When we get back to the village Inuzuka Hana will mend his bones and continue with Pakkuns recovery... "

A light knock on the door interrupted them and Kakashi stood quickly, leaving her hand feeling empty and cold. She heard the sound of him flopping in the chair beside her bed. In her personal cell of darkness she listened intently for the newcomer. The door opened and the sound of footsteps approached the bed."

"Kakashi-Sempai, how are you feeling?"

The only reply was a small 'hnn..ok...'

"Well, make sure to get some rest you have only just returned."

"Haruno-San you are up? I was just coming to check on your injuries, how do you feel?" The mans voice wafted softy to her across the room, she did not know him.

_"_I can't access my chakra, I'm guessing that's from over-use and depletion? My abdomen is very tender, from the tree I had growing out of me i'm sure . My face feels tight and swollen, probably from the explosions. My head feels very .." she floundered for the word to described the feeling of your brain eating itself from the inside out. "it hurts a lot" was the best she could do.

"Pain meds first, then lets take these bandages off and see whats happening under there." he inserted the medicine into her iv before turning his attention back to her. " You were treated in the field with emergency aid Haruno-San, and none of us here have the chakra control that you, Tsunade or Shizune have. This is a training outpost and we don't have many high level healers on hand." The man sounded regretful and slightly afraid. No-one wanted to upset Tsunade's apprentice and through her Tsunade, but Sakura nodded her head in understanding.

"No, thank you for all you have done. You saved my life... Whatever it is when my chakra returns I can mend it myself or Tsunade and Shizune can help" She attempted an encouraging smile, and it pulled harshly on the swollen skin around her face.

Kakashi watched the two interact quietly. Sakura putting on a brave smile and trying to reassure the Medic while she was the one in the hospital bed .She was somthing else.

'_and I let her down, I let down all of them over and over again...and I can never make this right' _the self-destructive thought kept bouncing around in his brain.

With surprisingly gentle hands the Anbu peeled away Sakura's bandages layer after layer. When he was almost complete he nodded to Kakashi. "Kakashi-sempai, could you turn the lights down, Haruno-San's eye will be photophobic due to the trauma for a while." The medic turned back to Sakura, while Kakashi stood and moved to switch the light off behind him with a click and turn on a small lamp beside the bed.

"Haruno-San, your right eye was severely damaged during the fight, we were able to save it, but like I said before even our most experienced do not have the minute chakra control you are famous for, so it is not at 100% by any stretch of the imagination. Until you or someone else can repair it you will be light-sensitive. Also you received two large lacerations to the right side of your face, additionally part of your scalp was torn away but we were able to suture the flap back into place. You had a great deal of internal bleeding that we were able to get under control. Also you had fractured a few ribs and have a major concusion. With time this will all heal...but for now you need to be very mindful of your actions"

The last bandage was removed and she squinted into the dimly lit room. Her right eye felt weak and would not focus correctly. She moved her hand up and let it glide over her face. Immediately she came in contact with the lacerations the skin raised and swollen, disrupting her usually smooth features. One arched from below her injured right eye over her cheekbone to her ear. The second cut down the middle of her cheek and tapered off under chin.

She swallowed back at the lump forming in her throat and nodded at the Anbu mask in front of her. "Thank you for all your help" was her weak reply

The Anbu-medic held his hands up to her eye and face, she felt the cool sensation of chakra moving into her skin. Exploring her injuries for signs of complications. He withdrew is hands slowly from her face and she felt him test other areas of her body where she was injured before stepping back to address her again.

"Everything seems to be healing correctly. I will leave you alone for now. I will be back to check on you later Hanuro-San get some rest" he nodded a goodbye and did the same to Kakashi silently stepping out and shuting the door behind him.

Kakashi was at her side again the sharingan user dropping down lighly to his spot on the bed next her. "Sakura..." he looked at her marred face, guilt and shame stopping any attmpt he had a consouling her. She stared down at her hands quietly regaining control of her emotions that threatened to over take her.

She was so differernt from the girl he knew as a genin. This was a strong kunoichi she stood by his side durring the war as a trusted comrade and tended to the injured shinobi of Konoha all along the way. It was not somthing that left you innocent to the misery of life for very long. Through all of that she had still tried to maintain her possitive outlook.

Sakura had blossomed under the flames of adversity and grown into a stunning and powerful shinobi. The rest of the world thought so too.

_He remembered her face eight months ago in the Hokages office when he had shown her a sketch and discription of herself and her talents in a bingo book team 10 had found while they were out on a mission. She had broke into a wide grin and snatched the book from him beaming the whole time. _

_"Look Kakashi! You're in here too! OOOO and Naruto and ...!"_

_Tsunade was less then pleased and slammed her hands down on her desk to try to get sakuras attention. The poor desk groaned pitifully under Tsunades power. Kakashi felt sorry for it. Yamato often complained about having to make and remake the hokages desks every few week. This one looked to be at the end of it's days._

_"Sakura! this is not somthing to be happy about! It means our enemies have decided you are a big enough threat to them to put a bounty out on"_

_Sakura stopped her foot on the ground retorting sharply. The windows vibrated in protest at her mild display of power "I know that shishou. Im not an idiot!"_

_"Well, thats news to me Sakura!"_

_At that point he had pulled out his copy of icha icha and waited for the shouting match to die down in the quiet corner by the window._

The copy-nin smiled nostagically at the memory. He wondered if she would be the same women, after this, after he had fallen short as Team-leader once again and left her and Sai hanging in the wind.

Sakura looked up to her silver haired teammate, uncomfortable with someone seeing her scarred appearance. The she repremanded her self feeling contrite for her vanity.

Scars where part of the shinobi life and a sign of the loyalty and duty to your village. Many of her comrades had recieved scars during the war and on missions, Most were worn proudly, a badge of courage that declared their scrafices to Konoha... Still as soon as her charka returned she would begin working on minimizing them as best as she could.

She tried to focus on The man before her, eye straining weakly, his hair was falling unkept silver everywhere. He did not have his vest on only the standard issue black shirt. His sharingan eye was closed and his other one stared dismaly into space. He was leaning back on one hand lazily, she could see the light shining on the pale skin of his throat. She squinted, something was wrong with the way he looked. When did he have a pale throat? Then it dawned on her

"Kakakshi, your face..."

He pulled his hand up to rub self-consciously at his jaw. "oh yea, I said I had just returned, I havent changed yet." He reached down around his neck and pulled up a piece of black cloth that was shredded. " My mask was torn during my battle with one of the Kekei-genkai users. He was extreamly...flexible...he managed to get around me and cut my face with a kunai." Holding up his hand he stopped her before she even began, noticing the worried look creeping across her face.

"The medics already healed it, Sakura"

He kept his hand splayed across his face feeling extremely exposed as her curiosity causing her to lean toward him, trying to brush his hand away from his face impatiently.

_"he has a mouth...and a nose...and a chin..' _she thought in disbelief. After years of teaming up with him she just accepted his eccentricities and decided Kakashi Hatake was just two eyes and a black mask. This was surreal. He was a man, an attractive man...with a face!

_'He dosn't look weird at all he looks normal and charming and attractive even"_

"You have a really nice face...Did you have to wait til im half blind to show me? ...this is so much better then flowers.." She muttered leaning in closer picking his fingers away from his face so she could see better.

With a small smile the silver haired man leaned back from the curious women, who was rapidly invading his personal space. Happy to disctract her from her depressing thoughts for a minute or too. If it had to be by accidentally exposing his face, well so be it. "Sakura, your being weird..."

The pink haired detective ignored him, and continued her investigation of the lower half of his face. The grin she only ever saw as an eye crinkle was accompanied by a lop-sided smile. It accented his eye crinkle very well. A thin white scar cut through the left side of his mouth from his top lip down to the chin. She was filing everything she saw away in her brain, incase this was the last time she ever got to see his face. Thinking over it Sakura decided he did indeed have a nice face.

"Has Naturo see this?" she asked pointing to the uncovered area of his face, wondering what her blonde friend made of this discovery. Sakura had given up on it years ago. Naruto though had actively pursued the quest to un-mask Kakashi. She suspected this single-minded pursuit of Naturo's was one of the few reasons the copy-nin had never reveled his face to them. Some kind of long amusing joke for their team-leader.

"No, I made one of the Anbu give me his mask before we returned. I just took it off after Naruto left, you were asleep then. He was very upset about it." he reached down to the floor and held up a white object she assumed was the mask.

"Naruto was upset he didn't see your face? or the Anbu was upset you stole his mask?"

"The anbu was upset. Naruto was too worried about you not waking up for days to think about anything else. I could have been naked and he wouldn't have noticed"

'_..do not go there with Kakashi...too late..'_

Her brain went there and she frowned. His imaginary naked body now had a nice face to go along with it.

_'great'_

She scolwed at the un-masked masked man for saying it, and at herself for imagining it. But he said it and when you say it, people think about it. Completely normal. She brushed away her thoughts of her Team-leader walking around the Anbu outpost naked.

Sakura reached her hand out to brush her fingers along the scar that ran through his left eye, she had never known where it ended. Now she could feel if not see clearly that it stopped just below his cheekbone.

His breath hitched awkwardly as her fingers lightly traced his exposed flesh. How long had it been since someone touched him like that? He laid a hand on hers as she softly traced the line of his jaw. Ready to remove her delicate fingers from his face.

_'This is getting ...'_ he couldn't complete the thought or bring himself to say anything to make her stop. So he kept quiet and still, just feeling her slender fingers under his hand, exploring his face. His face felt heated and his heart was beginning to speed up in his chest.

His open eye fell on her face as she concentrated on his features. Her eyes and mouth twisted into a mesmerizing stare he only ever saw when she was studying one of her medical scrolls intently. Unwittingly his eye dropped from her face to the soft skin of her neck. The medical gown had slipped lightly down toward her shoulder. His eye followed the curve of her neck down to her shoulder and the he mentally he traced graceful line of her collar-bone . He wanted to touch it. _'...These stupid hospital gowns...'_ His breath was coming much to fast for someone not moving.

"You have stubble..." she muttered lowly more to herself then to him.

She couldn't wait for Naruto and Sai to see this, but she doubted Kakashi would allow their blond teammate in on the secret. A tiny part of her she failed to acknowledge was smugly content with this, she wanted to keep his face to herself.

_'Naruto and Sai'_

She raised her eyes from the bottom half of his face to peer into his open eye, It was looking down at her softly but there was something else there too. She held his gaze. Something was nagging at the back of her head, her pain had receded with the iv drip and her brain was latching on to something she had missed before. Her fingers stopped their exploration on his face and her brows furrowed in confusion.

She recalled her earlier conversation with him and realisation broke over her quickly filling her with dread. Her voice just above a whisper posed the question she hated to ask

"Kakashi, how is Sai doing?"

Here it was. He was not ready. He didn't want to be the one to do this to her. He wanted to wait to tell her. Let her recover more. Damn her for always remembering her teammates. Damn himself for failing them.

He glanced away and looked back meeting her gaze with a small shake of his head. He couldn't say it.

Kakashi watched his friend's heart-break quietly before his eyes. She jerked her hand away from his face sharply,wincing in pain at her swift movement. He chased her retreating hand with his own grasping it lightly, pleading in silence with his eyes.

"Sakura...I..."

"Don't!...just say it...tell me where Sai is...you tell me what happened to him now!.." Her voice cracked under the lump in her throat and tears began streaming down her face, stinging at her injured eye. She needed to hear it out loud.

Kakashi shook his head, he didn't want to say it. He could almost pretend it hadn't happened if only he didn't say it.

She pulled her hand from his grip and held both of them in front of her defensively. Warding off his pleading attempts to keep silent. "Just tell me..."

His voice sounded strange as he repeated the words the Anbu captian had told him as soon as he arrived. He had felt numb when he heard, refusing believe that his quirky dark haired teammate had not survived.

'_..and its all your own fault..'_

"Sai...his injuries were too extensive and even with the best efforts of the Anbu Medics, he could not be saved. He died the day after the team brought you both here. I'm sorry Sakura"

She shook her head at him and a sob wracked her body with pain. She covered her face with her hands trying to calm self and regain control of her emotions. The silver-haired Jounin moved into put his arms around her comfortingly. He needed her to be ok, he didn't want to make her cry. "I'm sorry Sakura.."

She pushed him away with as much force as she had, ignoring her body protesting the aggressive movements.

"**NO**...don't touch me! You have no right Kakashi! Just get out of here!...I asked you if it would be okay! I told you I was worried! You said it would be fine Kakashi! You said we were all going to go home! Sai! Kakashi Sai! **did you _see what happened to_** **him**.!?" Her voice slammed into him with blantent hostility

He flinched away from her anger as she said all the same things that had been roaming around in his brain for the past few days. She blamed him too. It was his fault.

He thought back to the campsite and Sais broken and burned body. Yes he had seen the horror the young man had been put though because of his short sightedness. He looked back over at Sakura her body shaking with the effort to control her emotions to no avail. Tears where pouring down her face trickling down the puckered flesh of her new scars. Scars she had also receive from his poor error in judgment. He stood slowly watching his teammate crumble under the emotional distress of all she had been through. She wanted nothing to do with him.

Moving slowly he walked to the door. "I am sorry..." He opened the door and stepped out of the room and listened to the door as it clicked shut behind him. He stayed there listening to Sakura try to suppress her sobs and stop her tears.

Frustration and shame coursed through his body.

The loud unmistakable crash of a medical cart being slammed against a wall, utensils clattering noisily to the ground echoed back into Sakuras room.

She laid herself back down in the bed and gave in to her feelings and cried herself to sleep. The pillow damp from the loss she felt and from all the guilt she was carrying.

She woke sometime later only to begin sobbing again as reality hit her.

"It's alright Sakura-Chan.." Narutos voice reached out to her from somewhere in the dark room. She heard a chair scrape across the ground and felt his weight distributed on the bed beside her and he put his arms around her as she cried. She could hear from his ragged voice that he too had been battling with his own emotions in the dark as she slept. She was grateful for his company and friendship. Her thoughts traveled to Kakashi, somewhere alone dealing with his pain by himself and she sobbed harder.

"We are going back home tomorrow Sakura-chan...It will all be ok.."

* * *

**/\_/\**

**Ninken ears**


	4. The silver weeks

_I do not own Naruto._

_This chapter is set to run simultaneously along the next chap._

**_The silver weeks._**

* * *

The silver-haired Jounin stood staring the in to the mirror of his small apartment bathroom as he ran his fingertip over the edge of his mask. It had been three days since they returned to Konoha. It had been eleven hours since he had stood around with a crowd of his peers and his team, watching his comrade lowered in to the ground and hearing everyone say their last good-byes to the man they knew as Sai.

Everyone that knew Sai or had come in to contact with him during the war or on the various missions they had participated in, came to say fare-well to the pale artist. It is a dream-like moment, when you say good-bye to a friend who a few days ago you were laughing with only days before. A feeling he had experienced time and time again.

Kakashi leaned over his bathroom sink and let his head drop, gripping the sides of the smooth porcelain tightly with his hands as he recalled the faces of his team-mates during the funeral. He had stood apart from them and watched in agony as his blonde and pink haired comrades fought to control their emotions. He could not join them; he was the catalyst of their misery.

Naruto had searched the crowd for him several times and tried to get his attention when he finally found his masked sensei in the throng of shinobi. Kakashi had pretended not to notice the blonde's discreet beckoning motions. As if the copy-ninja ever missed anything. He did not want to intrude on Sakura who was standing beside the tall hokage-in-waiting her arm entwined with the Yamanaka girl as tears dripped down her face; she had made it clear she wanted nothing to do with Kakashi in the Anbu hospital room. They had not spoken since.

'_I did this…'_

He stood up with a strained inhale and ran a frustrated hand through his bedraggled silver hair. Looking over his shoulder in the reflection of the mirror he noticed the time on the clock beside his bed. He was an hour late now. If he didn't leave soon they would come for him. The last thing he wanted was the green beast of Konoha to break his door down and drag him out of his house in a flurry of youth and beauty. Really he was in no mood for company, but they had insisted upon it. They thought it necessary to have a drink in Sai's honor to celebrate the young man's life. There was no getting out of it. So he strode slowly across his room, opened his window and jumped down to start his walk to the bar. He really needed to get around to fixing his door sometime.

The first thing that hit him when he walked into the bar was the warmth, quickly followed by the noise and he groaned inwardly. He really wasn't much for the bar scene.

"Kakashi! My eternal rival! "

He traced his line of sight over the patrons at the bar and quickly found the group that waited for him. Might guy in his ostentatious green jumpsuit waved at him as he turned to make his way to them. Genma, Shizune, Kurenai, Yamato and Iruka gave less boisterous hellos to the newcomer as he sat in the absent seat beside the substitute team-seven leader.

"Your late sempai" Yamato frowned at Kakashi.

"ahhhh, Yes...my door was broken and I couldn't get out"

"You're a shinobi Kakashi-Sensei, you couldn't figure out how to escape a locked door?" Kurenai had jumped in with a small knowing smile.

The silver man shrugged as Genma motioned to the waitress for another round of beer, while neatly sliding his arm around Shizune's shoulders, causing a small blush to find its way to the woman's face.

Kakashi's eyes examined the comfortable way that Genma embraced Shizune, wondering when this turn of events had come to pass.

Guy's eyes honed in on the gesture of affection and leapt on it like a lion on a gazelle.

"The joy of youth and love surrounds us always. Where something ends another begins! We need only need to think of this and let our sadness be washed away in awe of life's beauty." Guy displayed his glass of beer over the table.

Genma gave a small shrug and rolled his eyes. "That will do for a toast, I guess... To Sai." the senbon-user held up his full glass of beer.

"I'm sorry for what happened Kakashi." The depressed voice of Iruka dragged Kakashi's curious gaze away from Genma and Shizune as the academy teacher raised his glass also.

"He was a great shinobi" Yamato added his glass to the others.

"He was a wonderful young man" Kurenai glass clinked as she lifted it.

"Sai was a loyal friend and a will be missed" Shizune hefted her full glass as well.

Kakashi looked at all the raised glasses and felt the words fall short in his mouth as he tried finding something to add, he proffered his glass with a nod. "…To Sai…" was all he could muster. The night passed swiftly in a dizzy haze of nostalgia and alcohol.

Kurenai had excused herself early to return home claimed she needed to relieve Shikamaru and Choji from babysitting duty. Shizune managed to drag a stumbling Genma from the bar well after mid-night and a blissfully inebriated Iruka volunteered to help get him home, much to Shizunes chagrin. Guy and Yamato kept the drinks coming while dragging the silver Jounin in to their conversations. Kakashi sipped at the beer through the fabric of his mask, letting the alcohol numb his emotions and trying to forget his mistakes. He had made so many of them.

* * *

"Hatake, Kakashi. You have been brought before this council to debrief us on your mission on the border, where you served as leader." Tsunade addressed the masked man that stood in the center of room.

Anytime a mission failed on such a large scale and lost so many lives a hearing was called to go over the mission details. The council consisted of the Hokage, The elders and several other high ranking shinobi of the village. She hated putting the obviously distraught team through this process but the Elders insisted upon it. They had lost almost all the rouge-nin and had one team-mate killed. Additionally in the pursuit of the enemy ninja over the border they had lost the lives of two additional Anbu- officers. Her hands were tied.

"Your failed mission, Hatake-San" one of the elders stated with a sneer and Tsunade's eyes narrowed visibly.

"I believe we are aware of what mission we are discussing. We have just heard several different accounts of it after all, or where you not paying attention?" the sting of the Godaime's words fell of the offending man easily as he ignored her rebuke.

The copy-nin passively stood in the center room as the council gazed at him expectantly. He quietly began reciting his side of the mission for everyone to hear. The shame of his failure on display for all to witness. He had just had to suffer through listening to The Anbu squad, Naruto, Sakura and they had even called in Pakkun (who was making an excellent recovery at the Inuzuka compound) to fill in the details of what happened that day on the border. He now knew in full detail and depth the complete and utter chaos that had surrounded that day.

When the silver-haired man finished with the details of his failed mission several of the Elders piped up and addressed him with scorn.

"Hatake, Kakashi. It seems to us that you should suffer the repercussions of your failure as a team-leader for Konohagakure. During this mission not only did you recklessly abandon two of your team-mates but you made the rash decision to move in on enemy forces that clearly out-numbered your own. This information is disturbing and causes us to wonder…if… perhaps you were not just attempting to add to your own sizable reputation as a Shinobi?"

A stunned silence engulfed the room; a pencil rolled off of the desk and clattered to the floor. Kakashi's chest tightened as he prepared himself for punishment, but voiced no contradictory statements in his own defense. They were right. He did this; he deserved to be stripped of his rank, demoted, anything to counter act the feelings of guilt that still held on to.

"You can't be fucking serious?!" Naruto's voice boomed through the silence. The blonde man dove to Kakashi's defense.

"He's put his life on the line time and time again for this village. He puts nothing before the lives of his comrades! It's one of the first things he taught us! You are just looking from someone to blame for an accident!"

"Naruto! Calm down…! Tsunade tried to rein in the livid blonde shinobi as the Elders stared at him mouths agape with disbelief. "..Nothing has been decided. Nothing..." She let her own ferocious gaze slide to the group of elders with a look that dripped with venom. She did not like the accusations they were throwing at one of the best Jounin in Konoha. The man was visibly debased by what had befallen his team. He didn't need a bunch of old bitter power mongers looking to use him as their scapegoat.

Naruto stubbornly ignored his Godaime's attempt at restraining his outburst. He began listing off Kakashi's numerous achievements and success daring anyone to challenge the facts before them. The rest of the Ninja on the council quickly followed in suite of the Uzumaki. The room erupted in to a chorus of resistance to any type of punitive measures against the copy-ninja. Many of them defended his actions. They cried out with the injustice of the claims. Tsunade spoke up for him claiming anyone of them could have made the same choice, and easily ended up in his position.

'…_it was my fault..I made the choice…I was reckless and now Sai is gone…' _His own thoughts echoed cavernously in his mind

Kakashi's eye traveled over the emotional group of his defenders looking for a certain someone. His search was over quickly as he found Sakura and surveyed her appearance. It had been two weeks now since they had returned. He noted the scars on her face had been reduced dramatically but the pale white of the torn flesh was still easily visible. Her eye had been also been healed, probably by Tsunade herself because the pink haired girl had no issues with the bright room she stood now in. The bruises and cuts that had criss-crossed her body had aslo disappeared. Her jaw was clenched and she remained as silent as the copy-ninja himself in the midst of the bedlam that surrounded them.

He had listened as she retold her story to the council and it had felt like he had swallowed a rock. His stomach gave a lurch as Sakura gave immaculate descriptions of what happened. Apparently all her memories of that tragic day had returned to her. She was cool and professional, listing off the way she and Sai were ambushed and beaten. How she was almost killed while desperately trying to get to her fallen teammates. It was as if she were reading off from a mission scroll. She gave no hint to the overwhelming emotions she was feeling. She had kept her face blank as she explained everything to the wide-eyed and attentive audience in front of her.

'_will she ever speak to me again?'_

Now as Kakashi watched her, a single tear rolled down her face and she quickly moved to brush it away with the back of her hand before anyone would notice. He felt a stab of remorse as the burden of her sadness weighed down on him.

'_..I didn't want this…'_

He had spent much of the past few weeks remembering the moments they shared on the hospital bed when she had discovered his face for the first time. He scolded himself silently and aloud, depending on his surroundings, as his thoughts about her would travel down an inappropriate road. He would recall her soft hands on his face. Her mouth parted slightly in astonishment as she studied his features. The soft curve of her neck and the delicate lines of her collar bones had invaded his mind. That moment had been more strange and exciting for him then he cared to admit. Now as he glanced at his miserable teammate he wanted nothing more than to take her aside and distract her from her pain as he had done for her before.

The hearing came to an end and no punishment had been handed out to any of the participating members of the failed mission. He was to take off an additional two weeks to recover and grieve along with the remaining members of his team.

As he left the only thing the copy-ninja was keenly aware of was that Sakura had not once turned to look at him during the entire procession. He missed her more then he could have ever imagined. As he made his way out of the building he strode past her as she stood talking with Tsunade, her back to him. His eye traveled forlornly over her hair and back.

' _Sakura…forgive me…'_

* * *

"Kakashi, come with me to see Sauske today."

Naruto had found him at the memorial stone again and had insisted on having breakfast. Then the kyuubi boy dragged the masked man to the old training grounds to spar. Naruto had been seeking out the company of his team leader for the last few weeks and Kakashi had an inkling that the boy was trying to drag himself out of his grief and was doggedly trying to drag Kakashi out of his own deep dark pool of guilt alongside him.

"Naruto…." The copy-ninja sighed and couldn't figure out how to explain that hovering over another one of his failures was the last thing he wanted to do. He was trying so desperately to grab at a semblance of life already. Lounging around in the smirk of Sasuke's distain would not improve his mental health.

"Sensei….please…" the blond begged. "He has changed so much since we brought him back. Even Sakura went to see him the other say and she never goes to see him."

This information sparked interest in Jounin's eyes as he continued to spar across the training grounds in the mid-morning sun with the orange ninja. It had been a week since the infamous hearing that all of Konoha was talking about and he had still not spoken with Sakura.

"Sakura went to see him alone?"

"Yeah, Sasuke told me yesterday that she had gone to see him a few days ago"

"What did they talk about?" the obvious disquiet in his voice causing his sparring partner to frown in his direction.

"What's going on with you and Sakura, Kakashi-Sensei? You two were always hanging out before…and now…"

Kakashi inhaled deeply and formed hand the hand signs he needed. A large wall of rock exploded from the ground beneath Naruto. The swift young man jumped away and darted of into the trees in front of him.

'…_distraction complete…'_ He had no desire to talk about his and Sakura's falling out with anyone.

A tap on his shoulder caused him to turn around quickly.

"So …will you go with me…I'll buy Ichiraku afterwards?"

Kakashi of the Sharingan smiled lightly at the pleading blue-eyed man. "Nice use of clones and hiding your chakra Naruto. You've improved greatly, hiding that much chakra requires a lot of restraint." He patted the boy on his shoulder.

"So, you'll go…with me this afternoon to see Sasuke..?"

" Ok Naruto….I'll go with you…." He shook his head as the wanna-be-Hokage leapt off the ground and gave a shout of delight.

Kakashi had returned to his apartment after visiting the memorial stone again, something he had been doing more and more regularly. He had showered and lay down to crack open Icha Icha tactics.

-zzzZZZzzzz-

"KA-KA-SHI!" something was banging on his window. "Kakashi! Wake up!"

He cracked open his eye and glanced at his window to catch a glimpse of a huge loud orange monster creeping outside his window, disrupting the sleep he so rarely had found these past few weeks.

"Go away Naruto…I'm not home" his eye dropped shut again.

"I can see you; I know your home… Kakashi-Sensei! You _**promised**_ to meet me thirty minutes ago! We are supposed to go see Sasuke!"

The silver haired man closed his precious book quietly. He turned his head to stare at Naruto perched outside his window like a giant orange vulture. A sparkle of determination lighted the boy's features and Kakashi gave a defeated sighed.

"Ok, let's go see Uchiha Sasuke" he stood stretching and made his way over to the window and opened it and jump out to the ground below with his comrade.

"Sensei you really need to fix your door…"

The Jounin nodded in agreement and walked acquiescently next to his teammate, toward the building that held the Uchiha man. He didn't need to let Naruto in on the fact that the main reason for relenting so easily is that he just wanted to know what had prompted the pink-haired girl to visit their once rouge teammate.

"Sasuke. Look who came today" Naruto called out to the dark haired man that was leaning over a small desk scratching out ink over the paper before him.

Sasuke looked up and much to Kakashi's surprise, a small smile dropped on to the Uchiha's features as he caught sight of his blonde friend. The smile promptly disappeared as he laid eyes on his old team-leader. Kakashi had been to see Sasuke on only two other occasions, both instances very soon after his capture, had not been pleasant for the Uchiha. The first time was to inform him of the sentencing everyone in the council had agreed upon for all his crimes and unceremoniously deposit him in the cell that would become his home. The second time the copy-nin of Konoha had descended down down in to the cell was to retrieve information from his once subordinate. Sasuke had not attempted to hide any information from him, but Kakashi's wrath with the boy was still fresh and had he had not had full control over his emotions. He had suspended the dark haired man by his throat against the cell wall and demanded the answerers to his questions. It had taken Genma, Raidou and Ibiki to haul the Silver-haired man off of their captive.

Tsunade had not approached Kakashi with anything concerning the Uchiha after that.

"Kakashi…what are you doing here?" the words fell from the dark haired mans mouth with suspicion.

"Naruto asked me to come with him today, and I agreed. Sasuke-Kun.." a small surge of delight thumped in Kakashi's chest as the Uchiha man's eye twitched slightly at being addressed in such a manner.

"How, wonderful…" Sasuke's eyes had narrowed on the pair as Naruto opened the door to the roomy cell and they entered. Naruto patted Sasuke on the back with a friendly smile and moved to sit in the chair across from him. Kakashi leaned against the grey stone walls and took in the surroundings of Sasuke's new home.

"Your house is almost as big as mine, Sasuke-kun."

Naruto smiled broadly in reply. "I convinced Tsunade Baa-chan to let him have most of this stuff, because of his cooperation with Konoha" he motioned around the cell.

Sasuke just shrugged indifferently as if it didn't matter.

He continued his visual search of the room as Naruto engaged his friend in light conversation.

The cell was almost an apartment by description; the only difference was instead of a front door he had a huge chakra reinforced iron bars. He had a bed, bookshelf, desk and a table with three chairs to eat at. The copy-nin noted with extreme surprise he even had the picture of the genin Team seven on his bookshelf.

'_Probably forced on him by naruto…'_

He looked to a set of sketches on the far wall, they seemed familiar to him.

"Where did you get those…Sasuke-kun?

Sasuke noticed the wandering eye of the copy-nin as it settled on his sketches and Naruto grew silent.

"Your team-mate Sai."

"Sai …came to see you?" the incredulous tone of his voice was not hidden.

"Sai came by a lot Kakashi-Sensei…" Naruto voice wavered with emotion as he remembered his friend.

Sasuke nodded with Naruto. "He would come by a few times of week, sometimes with Naruto sometimes alone; he would mostly just ask questions."

"Questions about what?" he pushed off the wall and moved over to examine the sketches.

"About..me…our team before..my reasons for doing things. How I feel about ….whatever….just a lot of questions…" The Uchiha heir moved silently across the room and stood beside his old team leader as they looked upon the sketches together.

The sketches were of various streets of Konoha, the Hokage tower and even Ichirakus. Beside the sketches of the Scenery of Konoha, there were two sketches of Team seven. One was of the team seven of present day, Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura and Sai with the added addition of Sasuke. It was just a black and white ink sketch with minimal detail, but it struck a chord of sadness with the copy ninja to see how Sai had included Sasuke along them.

'…_Sai…'_ he wondered what his long lost team mate made of the Sasuke.

The other was done with incredible detail in color and from an aerial standpoint. It looked down on Kakashi lounging in a tree branch with his favorite orange book, below him on the ground Sakura and Naruto laid in the bright green grass with all the ninken surrounding them. The drawing exuded a happiness and serenity that the copy-nin could not begin to describe.

'_..this…this is what Sai thought of us?...' _The copy-ninja suppressed the urge to rip the picture down, for all the feelings it brought him. He felt like a betrayer of the happiness portrayed in the sketch. Things where not like that now.

"He drew these for you…?"

"He said it was unfortunate that I could not see the good things that Konoha had to offer; a few days later he started bringing me these drawings"

"He never said anything about going to see you..."

Sometime during their silent reverie Naruto had moved behind them to look upon the drawings also. "He didn't want to upset you Sensei…"

The sharingan user felt the bubbling of guilt rising up to join the rest of the tumultuous feelings he had while visiting Sasuke.

"I'm sorry for what happened to him…." Sasuke shifted awkwardly as he tried to find something else to add to his words of comfort…"Sakura came by the other day and looked at these too.."

'_Sakura….'_ The silver haired mans eyes fell to the sketches of the pink-haired medic that had thrown him from her room in a fit of anger and betrayal.

"What did you talk about?"

Sasuke shrugged at Kakashis question. "I dunno, she told me a lot of stuff…and then she left…" the dark haired man seemed at a loss about the interaction he had had with the girl who once professed her un-dying love for him.

They spent another hour in the company of the Uchiha and then left. Kakashi opted out of dinner at Ichirakus much to Naruto's disappointment. The copy-nin walked home that night with a heavy heart.

* * *

The rain came down lightly as the morning sun rose in the sky. The Copy-nin stood before the memorial stone watching the first rays of light break across the dark surface and the rain trickle down to make a puddle on the ground at his feet. This was his morning rutine for the past few weeks. His exposed eye traveled to all the names of the comrades he had lost. All the friends he missed and longed for the chance to see one more time. Obito, Minato, Rin, Asuma, Jraiya along with so many more. They all had hopes, dreams and a quirks. All of their lives had been too short. The guilt weighed on his shoulders and the loss sunk deep in to his chest as the rain dripped down his face. He let his eye fall to the last name on the stone as he stood staring at it, remembering the strange man who would never again make an inappropriate statement at exactly the wrong time. He would never again proudly show off his new sketches to his teammates or question Sakura on the strange antics of the opposite sex. The name was a fresh bright scar on the dark stone. A reflection of the fresh raw wound that his death had caused the teammates he had left behind.

Kakashi wondered at Sai's last moments as he regarded the small name etched into the big stone. How did he feel? Was he scared? Did he feel hopeless? Did he feel let down by his teammates? The silver jonin could only speculate at the answers because the only one who could tell him was gone forever.

_'Sai..i'm...sorry'_

The sharingan-user knew the words would not bring the man back or make himself feel any better. If that were true Sai would have been back weeks ago. Instead his stood there in his silent anguish wondering at what he should have done to prevent this from happening. The sky continued to weep lightly as Kakashi kept his vigil at the stone, going over things he could never change.

He sensed someone approaching from across the training field but did not look up. He stood slouching with his hands in his pockets. The rain continued pattering lightly around him as he stared quietly at the monument of fallen shinobi.

The man came abreast to the Copy-nin and shoved his hands in his pockets as well. His own gaze falling on the stone for a long moment before he addressed the soaking wet masked man.

"Kakashi, Tsunade sent a summons for you hours ago. She is getting impatient." He turned to look on the infamous copy-nin and felt a stab of remorse for him. He could see the weight Kakashi carried in the far-off way he stared at the memorial. The copy-nin carried a heavy burden and it was weighing him down. The newcomer stretched his hand out and patted his silver-haired comrade on the shoulder encouragingly.

"Kakashi-san, this is not your fault no-one blames you. You couldn't have predicted what would've happened out there" He gave the man's shoulder a brief squeeze before returning his hand to his pocket.

"Thank you for reminding me Genma" Kakashi had finally raised his eye to meet the senbons users own and saw only pity reflecting back at him. The masked-man forced his trademark eye-crinkle smile as he brushed off the reassuring words the Jounin had offered him. "I didn't see how late it was I'll go see her right now" he held up two fingers in a small wave good-bye over his back as he turned and walked across the field to make his way to Hokage tower, but maybe he would stop and get a coffee first.

* * *

Genma watched team 7's leader meander away with hands shoved deep in his pockets. He frowned deeply at the copy-nin's back. The man obviously blamed himself for the disaster that had happened on the border. He had made a tough choice to go retrieve the Anbu himself and it had ended badly, very badly. It was a choice any of the other team-leaders may have made. When you make the choice yourself and a teammate ends up dying because of it, well that is not something you can just brush away. The Tokobetsu-jounin wondered how long Kakashi had stood there just staring at all the names on the stone.

With a shake of his head he turned back to the large stone in front of him and glanced down at the newest name. "Sai" he said to himself remembering the pale man he had met on the occasions he had worked with Team 7. He was a strange one, but what else could you expect from an ex-root agent. Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi however seemed to mesh well with the man. They had brought the artist-nin out of his emotionally repressed shell and molded him in to some semblance of a human. Genma had seen them in the streets of Konoha or on the training grounds from time to time, laughing, joking and enjoying each others company. The loss of a teammate ran deep and was a hard thing to get through.

He bowed politely to his fallen comrades on the memorial stone and turned to make his way back to the village. He had other people beside the sluggish copy-ninja to wrangle for Tsunade today.

* * *

**A/N**

_**This chap is set running at the same time as the next chap just with different POVs**_

_**/\_/\ **_

_**Ninken Ears**_


	5. The pink weeks

_This chap runs in the same time period as the Silver weeks chap just different POV's make sure you read that one first._

**_The pink weeks_**

* * *

"Sakura, stop it! I know what I'm doing!"

"Sorry Shishou" The pink haired woman leaned back on the bed in the hospital room with a disgruntled frown. She had just been trying to inspect the Godaime's handy work on her abdomen. Tsunade and Shizune had been with Sakura for practically the entire day when she returned from the Anbu-outpost. It took them no time to begin healing their young friend. Now two days after her return Tsunade's hands roamed over Sakura stomach, checking all her vital organs. The Sanin had already gone over her other injuries and this was the last.

Tsunade sat back up and pulled the girls shirt back down over her stomach."Ok, Sakura. You're ok to go home now." The blonde women pursed her lips at her apprentices face. "You still have some scaring on your face but it is much better than it was."

"It's ok Shishou" The young women raised her hand up to the two scars that now graced her face.  
"I was the lucky one." Her thoughts traveled down the same road they had before. To the confusion of that day at the campsite, to her last moments with Sai before the chaos began_. 'What was the last thing I said to him?' _Her fingers lightly traced the pale scars on her face as she remembered seeing him, tossed aside in the clearing, body battered and burned. Her breathing became shallow as she fought to suppress her emotions in front of her Shishou.

"Sakura, don't blame yourself this isn't your fault…it's going to be ok…Just take it easy.." the blonde women not usually prone to sympathetic displays laid a comforting hand on her apprentices shoulder. "Ino and Hinata are going to take you back home now" The hokage nodded to the blonde Yamanaka and the dark hair Hyuga girl, they had been sitting quietly awaiting the Hokage's final inspection of their friend.

"Thanks guys" Sakura forced a small smile on face for her two friends.

"It's not problem Sakura, we are just all happy you're ok now" the Hyuga almost whispered.

"Come on forehead, let's get you home." Ino gave her pink haired friend a sad smile and moved to her side to help her up as the Hyuga heir grabbed her bag and followed them out.

After they had returned Sakura to her small apartment Ino had gone out to get groceries for her friend's pathetic stock of food, while Hinata began scuttling around the apartment cleaning up and dusting, washing and organizing anything she could find.

The quick dispatch of team-seven after the rouge-ninja, had left Sakura's apartment in shambles. She had run out of her house with the refrigerator door wide open, which was why she no longer had any edible food. Her full bowl of Anmitsu that she was seconds away from enjoying was sitting sadly on her table, smelling and looking like one of Shizune's experiments. She had also apparently left her windows open, the first of autumn's breezes had blown a large amount of paperwork and scrolls all over the place. On top of that sometime while she was gone it had rained so the papers scattered by the window had melted, then dried onto the floor. It looked like a bomb went off.

After silently surveying the destruction that was her home she made up her mind. "Hinata, I'm going to take a bath…"

"Ok, Sakura-chan. That's a good Idea. You should relax. Ino and I will make dinner; let me know if you need anything." The white eyed byakugan wielder glanced up at Sakura with a small smile as she collected some scrolls off the ground.

Sakura moved slowly in to her bathroom, turning the water on hot and adding some lavender salts, the clean, relaxing steam soon filled the room. She undressed herself in the tiny space taking the time to examine her body in the mirror. The giant scar above her hip bone was a ghastly white imperfection that immediately drew her eye. She rubbed her hand along the large scar remembering.

'_The explosion..pain..the taste of dirt and blood. The smell of smoke, the choked sound of breathing coming from somewhere; It was me... Where is Sai? Stand up and fight don't be weak…I can't I'm so tired. I'm going to die…. The throbbing pain in her head, all the blood. Get back on your feet... Where are my feet? …..So much blood… Where are Kakashi and Naruto?'_

The pink haired women stood staring at her scarred body in the mirror, not actually seeing herself but rather seeing the devastation of that day. The water began splashing on to the floor and she was pulled from the harrowing memories. She quickly moved to turn the water off and let the it drain down a little before she lowered herself into the tub and closed her eyes. The hot water seeped the tension from her body, she relaxed and tried to keep her mind off of the tragic events of the mission. It didn't work. The more she relaxed the easier her emotions began springing forth past the barrier she had built to hold them. Tears welled up behind her eye-lids that she had squeezed shut. They begin to trickle down her face. The cool of her tears mixing with steaming bath water.

"Sai..I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to save you" her words were saturated with the guilt she felt at not being able to save her friend. She remained in the bath as the water turned from hot to cold. The sorrow she felt fell down her face in silence.

"Sakura, are you ok in there? I made dinner." Ino's voice full of concern spilled through the door.

"Yea, I'm fine. Let me get dressed…" her voice trembled un-convincingly but Ino gave her friend the space she needed. If Sakura wanted to talk, she would. She had known her stubborn friend a long time. There was no forcing the Haruno girl in to anything she didn't want.

She picked over the meal her two friends had made and then excused herself. "Thanks so much you two..I really just want to go to sleep now…we have to get up early….for.." She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.

Hinata nodded and put her hand on Sakura's with a reassuring squeeze. "Ok Sakura, we will see you in the morning."

Hinata and Ino cleared the table and said goodnight to their friend.

"Get some rest forehead…I'll be here in the morning …"

The young medic let herself into her bathroom to change clothes for the night. She pulled off the top and shorts she was wearing and slowly picked up one of the large black shirts she had to sleep in. As she pulled the shirt over her face she stopped and stared at herself in the mirror.

The shirt was covering only the bottom half of her face. She remembered the moment in the hospital with Kakashi.

_'He showed you his face ... He's been your friend for years and you treated him like trash.'_

She pulled the shirt down off her face and turned from the mirror quickly, ashamed of herself for what she had done to her friend. As she made her way to bed her thoughts continued to go over the last time she spoke to her team leader.

* * *

"There's a lot of people here for him…." Sakura muttered quietly to Ino, her arm locked around the arm of her blonde friend.

"He was a member of team seven. You guys work with everyone and everywhere. All of the Shinobi in Konoha will be here."

"Sakura-Chan, how are you?" Naruto had appeared at her side with Hinata, and put an arm around her shoulders in brief hug. He had been coming by to check on her every day since they returned, but he still always asked how she was doing.

"I'm ok Naruto. How are you?" She glanced up at her tall blonde teammate as he looked down at her.

"I dunno, it's like …. " He shook his head and looked around inhaling deeply, and smiled past the tears forming in his eyes. "I keep expecting him to just show up and ask me what we're all doing here…" Her friends blue eyes closed as he looked toward the sky as he waged an internal war to gain control over his emotions.

Hinata muttered something to Naruto and he put his arm around her shoulder, gently pulling her closer to him and kissed her on top of the head.

The pink medic reached out her hand and grasp Naruto's with a supportive squeeze.

As the service moved forward and everyone began saying their good-byes to the fallen man, Sakura didn't try to stop the tears from falling.

"Where is Kakashi?" murmured Naruto as he glanced around the crowd. Sakura winced at the name and didn't try to help her friend locate their team-leader. She didn't want to think about Kakashi now. She didn't want to think about the way she had treated him. How much he must resent her for the blame she so casually threw at him. She didn't want to think about the way he just accepted that blame and tried to beg her forgiveness. The way she threw his appologies back in his face.

'_His face…he showed me his face…'_

Her tears fell faster and she began to sob. She had made so many mistakes.

* * *

"Ok, Sakura. Start from the beginning and tell us what happened?"

"Which beginning, Tsunade-Sama? When we left Konoha? When we found the trail of the Rouge-ninja? When we discovered their campsite and additional numbers? Or when we got ambushed?"

Tsunade closed her eyes briefly as she watched her apprentice's blank face. The girl was a statue, devoid of all emotion as the council brought her forth to re-tell her accounting of the failed mission.

"Start with when I assigned team-seven the mission scroll"

"Yes, Shishou"

With that Sakura began reciting her memories of the mission with perfect detail. She kept her emotions in check by pretending she was just telling a story that she had memorized. She had been practicing and since she discovered what was going to happen a few days ago.

'_It didn't happen to me. It didn't happen to anyone I knew..It's just a story I have to tell...'_ the façade only lasted as long as she kept telling herself that, but at least she wouldn't break down in the middle of the council hearing.

She didn't want everyone to know what happened at the camp-site. She didn't want everyone to know her failure to protect her team-mate. She didn't want everyone to hear about failure as an élite medic to treat a fallen comrade that was just a few feet away. But the council demanded it, so she told them everything. She answered any questions they had for her as with as much tranquility as she could gather until they finished. When she was dismissed she returned to her original spot beside Naruto and listened to the proceedings with a detached aura.

She listened as Kakashi told what he had gone through but she could not bring herself to look at her silver-haired team leader. She was so ashamed of the way she had treated him. They had not spoken for two weeks now. She missed his serene company and the way he would make her laugh when she was about to lose her temper. He was so easy to be around.

'_He will never forgive you for the things you said to him…'_

Her heart caught in her throat as he began describing what he found when he, the Anbu and Ninken came upon the campsite. She heard his voice hesitate painfully as he tried simultaneously to battle his emotions and find the words to describe the scene of complete madness they had discovered. He then went on to describe the chase over the border and the battle with the enemy ninja, and the resulting loss of the Anbu officers. He told the council about the return to the outpost with the captive, and his discovery of Sai's death and then return trip back to Konoha. The room descended in to a prolong silence as they all waited for his dismissal back to the line of witnesses.

Sakura froze along with the rest of the room as the Elders let loose their nefarious accusations. She heard a pencil roll across a table top and clatter noisily to the floor and then Naruto exploded next to her, within a minute the rest of the Shinobi in the room had also jumped in front of Kakashi. They brandished weapons of words, sharpened with loyalty and sacrifice. She remained silent staring out of the window behind the Hokage. Not able to bring herself to even a glance at her team-leader.

'_Gods…he's not even defending himself. Look what you did to him with your careless words and thoughtless actions. You will never forgive yourself if something happens to him. Everyone else here respects him and has stayed loyal to him. You, one of his best friends, tossed him aside and cast blame on him because it was easier then accepting the blame for yourself…'_

She felt a tear of shame begin to fall down her cheek and she brushed it away quickly.

The dramatic proceedings had ended. No-one had received any sort of punishment. She was to spend two additional weeks to gather her thoughts and recuperate along with the rest of the shinobi involved in the failed mission.

As she made her way to leave the building, Tsunade caught her and pulled her aside.

"Are you ok Sakura? I know that wasn't easy." The Godaime looked on her apprentice with deep concern.

"I'm ok, Shishou. I wasn't that bad" she lied.

The Hokage frowned at her pink haired apprentice. "…ok Sakura, well if you're really feeling better you can begin training lightly again tomorrow to get your chakra to increase. I will meet you at-"

She only half listened to Tsunade's words. She felt him approaching. Her heart jumped in to her throat. She wanted him to call out to her, to ask her if they could talk. She wanted him to say anyhthing to her.

He brushed past her silently and continued out the doors.

'_I'm sorry Kakashi…Please forgive me…"_

* * *

"Oooi Sakura-Chan! Over here!"

Sakura turned toward the voice with a small smile and began walking across the dirt road outside the Inuzuka compound.

"Good morning guys, I brought you something." She held out a white paper bag and lifted up a long string of sausages from it.

The two ninken stared lovingly at the meat as she divided it up between the tiny pug and the giant bull dog and held there offerings to them. "Now…before I give this to you two…promise not to tell the others."

"We promise" croaked Pakkun, his tiny voice riddled with need.

"Bull?"

"I promise Sakura-chan" the big dog's voice was a tiny whisper, as if he were afraid his words would make the sausages disappear.

She smiled at them brightly and handed over the objects of their desires. The ninken ate greedily as she lowered herself to lay in the grass between them zipping up the front of the light, red jacket she had put on to ward off the encroaching fall weather. She put her hands behind her head and lay back staring at the sky.

"How are you two healing? You look great."

"Hana-san is very good at what she does. We will be ready for missions again soon...and you,Sakura-chan, how are you?" Pakkuns scratchy little voice approached her ear as the small dog laid his head on her arm after he had devoured his half of breakfast.

"I'm ok…Tsunade is very good at what she does too." A small smile tugged at her mouth as she fondly thought on how annoyingly diligent her Shishou had been to about her recovery. "I've been allowed to start training again my chakra is is almost all back."

"That's great Sakura-chan, but I was talking about Sai. It's very difficult to lose a pack member. "

'_Leave it to a dog to not beat around the bush.'_ She thought tersely. Her response was a long time in coming, but the Ninken worked with Kakashi. If anything they had the patience to wait out an answer.

'_They were there with me, no-one else was, and they know what happened.'_

"I'm ….I don't know…Pakkun. It's difficult to know what I feel. Sometimes I'm so happy I survived, and then I feel guilty for being happy. I miss Sai so much and…the way he….it was so horrible…and I'm glad it didn't happen to me. Does that make me a horrible person? I…I don't know…" She shrugged her shoulders lost for the words she was feeling. "There are so many things I wish I had told him… now I never can."

Bull lowered his giant head to lie across her legs and his deep voice rumbled over her thighs as he spoke. "…it was bad Sakura-chan…one of the worst fights we have been in...It good that only one of us died that day."

"He's right Sakura chan…it's not fair to feel guilty, if it had happened to you, would you want Sai to feel bad about it?"

The pink-haired medic closed her eyes with a deep sigh as she and the ninken bathed in the morning sun-light. "I keep losing team-mates…first Sasuke, now Sai." She grimaced inwardly and braced herself for what she was about to say. " I said some terrible things to Kakashi...we haven't spoken in weeks." It felt better to tell the dogs what had happened, even if it wasn't detailed. She hadn't told anyone about it.

"You haven't lost Kakashi, sometimes when someone in your pack is scared or hurt, they bite it's just the way it happens. Talk to him Sakura… he will understand…he has never talked to anyone as much as he talks to you..I'm sure he misses you. He comes to see us every day, just wait here for him…" mumbled the pug in to her ear.

Sakura stay silent as she listened to the little dog's sage advice. She had been thinking about the silver-haired Jounin a lot. Her memory dragging up the fuzzy image of the lope-sided smile she was graced with. The way his hand felt over her own as she traced the line of his jaw. The thin scar that ran through his lips and down to his chin. The feeling of the stubble on his face under her fingers. The way his hand took hers and offered her the comfort she so desperately needed. The look in his eyes when she finally looked up to meet his gaze.

Her heart felt fluttery in her chest whenever she thought of these moments and she shook her head. It wasn't right to think about Kakashi that way.

Bull's baratone voice shattered the prolong silence. "You haven't lost Sasuke either Sakura…he's right where you left him…"

She snorted and gave a morbid chuckle, the dog's statement.

"I guess you're right, Bull. He is sorta stuck there…"

* * *

She didn't wait for Kakashi with the dogs. She couldn't face him. Not today.

_'What would I say? Oh Kakashi sorry about the way I screamed at you when you were experincing a tramatic event in your life. Also sorry about blaming our friends death on you. Hope you didn't take that to hard'_

She had looked on thirteen enemy ninja and challenged them to get past her. She had failed, but she had still stood there none the less. Now she couldn't even face the man that had become her closest confidant. She was a coward.

She remembered after Sasuke had been brought back, how she had gone to him and talked with him. He listened to her troubles and woes and offered her his own opinions. They conversed for hours on the subject. They both had such tumultuous thoughts on their rouge teammate that they had never dared voice to anyone before. Over the weeks the conversations broadened to other topics. Soon she was seeking out his company more than anyone else's. They would train together and talk together. Sometimes she would just enjoy his company, sitting around him working over her medical books while he read one of his stupid little love stories, or spending the afternoon chatting with the ninken as he slept a few feet away in the branch of a tree.

Some of her friends had comments on the pair's closeness a few times but she brushed it off. The only time she became self-conscious about her close friendship with Kakashi is one day when Tsunade had brought it up.

xxxx

_The blonde women had been talking to her about a new medical jutsu Shizune was working on when she suddenly look up to peer sharply at Sakura over her paperwork._

"_You have been spending a lot of time with Kakashi lately I have been told…"_

_Sakura stomach clenched and she suddenly felt guilty. Why did she feel guilty?_

"_We just train together sometimes Shishou" she lied and wondered why._

"_hnnn..I've heard it from several different people Sakura that you too are very close.." she looked back down to her paperwork eyes narrowed, and Sakura began fumbling for excuses._

"_It's just…I needed someone to talk to about Sasuke.. I can't talk Naruto or Ino...…So I talk to Kakashi.."_

_Tsunade eyes glanced up again and a broad smile played on her face. "..You talk to kakashi about Sasuke?... I'm sure he loves that"_

_Sakura gave a sigh of relief at her Godamie's misinterpretation of her words. The whole of Konoha still thought she was pining for the wayward Uchiha and if that got Tsunade off her back she was more than willing to go along with it. So she gave a small self conscious laugh and nodded. _

"_I know huh? …But he never judges me.."_

" _he's Kakashi..he never will... Ok Sakura you can go and help Shizune now." And just like that the Hokage dismissed her with a flick of her wrist._

_She had avoided Kakashi for almost two days after that happened, but when he showed up at her apartment with a bag of dog shampoo, begging for her to help him bathe all the hounds, she promptly forgot what it was she was feeling so weird about. _

_xxxxxx_

She had decided after her discussion with Pakkun and Bull that there was someone she needed to talk to. Someone she had been avoiding like the plague. With all that had happened in the past few weeks the pink-haired woman decided to hell with it.

She had things she wanted to say to Sasuke Uchiha for over a year now. Things she had never been able to tell him before. He was just sitting there anyway. So she dressed herself in her usual shinobi attire and set off to visit the Uchiha man she hadn't seen in months.

As she made her way down the corridor to his cell she stopped walking and grimaced slightly, ready to turn back around.

'_What am I doing here?'_

Her curiosity got the best of her though as she heard the noise of laughter coming from the cell she was intent on visiting. She approached the door quietly and her jaw dropped. The cell looked completely different than the last time she visited. Naruto had tried to tell her about it of course but she ignored him and told him she didn't care. It looked like a small apartment, all cozy and neat. And low and behold, Sasuke Uchiha had guests over.

She suddenly felt very awkward as the men gazed up at her from the Shogi board, she just stood there staring back at them. An odd sort of tension flooded the area and Sakura felt an odd impulse just to run away.

'_Yeah, that wouldn't be weird…'_

"Hi ,Sakura-chan!"

"Hello Choji" The large man obviously didn't feel the tension. "Hi Shino, Shikamaru"

"Sakura.." they both replied

She turned her eyes toward Sasuke. The Uchiha was looking at her with confusion. He didn't say anything to her, just continued to stare.

The Nara and Aburame men stood slowly from the table glancing between Sasuke and Sakura nervously.

"uummm...Ok, Sasuke. We have to go…I'll remember the placement of the board and we'll finish later. Come on Choji." Shikamaru mumbled and the trio made their way out of the door.

Shino paused to hold it open for her.

She glanced down the hall to the guard's standing at the end of the long corridor and then nodded a thank you to Shino before entering the door and listening to it bang closed behind her.

"I um…brought you something…um..I wasn't sure if..because... You bring stuff to people houses when you go over to visit…I didn't know if that same rule applied here.."She glanced around the roomy prison cell. "the guard said it was ok..but he looked at me funny"

She held out a plastic bag to the man who continued to stare at her as if she had two-heads.

'_oh no don't start of rambling like an idiot. Confidence Sakura courage. Say what you need and get out'_

He stood slowly approaching her and took the bag, eyeing it warily before looking inside and pulling out a large hardback book slowly.

"ahh..Thank you Sakura, for the book" Sasuke raised his eyes to her again suspiciously.

The pink-haired girl shrugged. "The guy at the book store said it was really popular right now."

"What…are you doing here Sakura?"

"What?! I can't come visit you Sasuke?! I haven't been to see you in months…"her gaze burned into him as if he was the one being weird.

"um..nooo…" He looked around the cell and went to place the book on a bookshelf beside the bed, his movements and speech slow and cautious. "It's just, I didn't think you liked coming to see me."

"I don't"

He looked back at her slowly, eyes narrowed. "Then why are you here?"

"I'm not sure."

"Ok." The Uchiha sat down on the edge of his bed and watched as she stiffly made her way around his room. "I've heard about what happened to your team. I'm glad you're doing better."

She turned to look at him. "Who told you about it?" she questioned accusingly, although she already had an idea.

"Everyone Sakura…" He held his hands out to the room around him.

"hnnn.."she pursed her lips in a very Tsunade like way and continued to stare at him.

"A lot of people come here; you guys are the first ones they tell me about." He motioned to the sketches on the wall as he made his statement.

She walked over and stared at them. "Sai, he drew these…where did you get them?!"

"He gave them to me Sakura."

"Sai came here to see you?"

The dark-haired man nodded slowly. "He came a lot and sometimes he brought sketches with him. I'm sorry about what happened to him.."

She looked over all the sketches and her eye's fell to the black and white sketch of a complete team-seven, including Sasuske himself. Then to the rendering of herself Naruto and Kakashi, done in vivid colors and she shook her head imagining the pale artist as he painted the picture. The feelings of guilt beginning to creep back on her.

"Sai….."

"He was a good man and a worthy Shinobi" The Uchiha had stepped up beside her and she made a hasty retreat to the other side of his table.

"Like you would know..." the scorn dripped from her words.

'_This is not what you're here for. You're not here to start an argument'_

Sasuke just turned to watch her skitter away from his presence and he shrugged remorsefully. "I'm paying for my crimes Sakura. I've already apologized to everyone; I can't do anymore then that."

"Your right, I'm not here to talk about that. I just need to tell you something and then I will leave you alone.

He nodded and moved to sit down at the table and motioned for her to do the same. She refused. She felt stronger when she stood up.

"I loved you Sasuke, at least I thought I did. I don't actually think I did now. You betrayed me. You betrayed the Village. You tried to kill us. You were so power hungry it was disgusting. I know about what happened to Itachi-"

"How do you know about-"

She brushed him off. "I'm the Hokage's apprentice.I know a lot of things. I know about Itachi and what happened to him, and I'm so sorry for that Sasuke. I care about what happens to you and I don't want you to be in pain, sometimes I miss the old days , when it was just us and Kakashi and Naruto."

He stood up quickly and moved to grab something off his shelf that had been lying down and handed it to her. "I do too.." it was the genin picture of the old team-seven. "I can't take back all the things I've done, but I'm trying to do better now."

"Where did you get this?" She stared at a copy of the picture she herself had at home, and she knew for a fact Kakashi and Naruto also possessed the others.

"Naruto had it all this time, I asked about it one day and the next day he brought it with him."

She laughed lightly thinking of the indomitable orange ninja. "I wish things could have been different Sasuke."

The Uchiha looked at her with regret etched in his eyes. "I do too Sakura."

"..but it is different..and there is no going back.."

She stayed in the cell with him for only a few minutes more quietly eyeing the sketches Sai had drawn for him. Her gaze continuously falling on her the silver-haired team mate she had spurned, with shame.

"Ok Sasuke, I'm going…"

"Sakura, will you come back sometime?" she turned back to look at him and nodded slowly biting her lip in thought. "I don't know Sasuke, maybe…have a good night"

As she returned home after her visit with Sasuke she ran over her feelings. She felt none of the throbbing adoration she had when she was a child. She only felt sadness for the way things had gone. She wished it was different. She wanted to be able to turn back time for him so he could try again, so he wouldn't make the mistakes he had made. So he would chose not leave his village. Chose not to abaondon his friends and leave them feeling alone and betrayed.

'_Just like you've done to Kakashi….'_

* * *

It was very early in the morning, the sun was trying desperately to shine through the grey cloudy sky as rain drizzled down into the streets and pattered off her window. The medic blinked lazily. Something had woke her up. The sound came again.

'_Who on earth is knocking at my door before dawn.' _She flung her feet over the side of her bed and stomped to her front door, ripping it open with a snarl.

_**"What!?"**_

An Anbu mask stared back at her blankly and she sighed and rolled her eyes.

"….Yes…? What can I do for you at 5:30 in the morning…?"

"Haruno-San, Good morning sorry to disturb you." She knew that voice and it caused her to narrowed her eyes in irritation as he pretended not to know her. " Tsunade-Sama ordered an Anbu team to go through your team-mates apartment to make sure there was no valuable information left behind before it was put up for rent again."

He bent down and lifted a large box and held it to her.

"We found these all over the apartment. We thought you and your team may want them. We already received permission from the Hokage, she said it would be fine."

Sakura took the box and set it down inside her apartment. Sh opened the corner of it and peered inside. It was full of Sai's sketches and paintings. She took a ragged breath trying to suppress her emotions at the sight of her comrade's last works and nodded her head as tears began to fall from her face.

"Thank you Neji-san." she reached out and hugged the startled Anbu tightly.

"You're welcome, Sakura…" the covert Hyuga gave up all pretenses at denying who he really was and awkwardly returned the embrace.

She spent the next few hours rifling through the sketches. He had done so many. He drew the landscape, Konoha and there were so many sketches of his team-mates. His teammates training, out to eat, he even had different pictures of them sleeping outside under the stars. His memories of the long nights on watch during missions no doubt. She stared at a sketch of Kakashi and herself leaning over a table and chatting, her lips pulled into a wide grin and the masked-mans eye turned in a smile.

The same surge of emotion she always felt when she thought about the Jouinin simmered in her chest. Her thoughts again turned over the last moments in the hospital with him. She felt exhilarated as she thought about his face, his eyes, the closeness they shared. Then shame dropped her like a rock as she recalled her harsh words and the sound of the medical cart as he slammed it against the wall in frustration.

Another knock brought her back to reality and she went to open the door.

"Good morning, Genma.."

" Sakura, Tsunade wants to see you this morning in her office"

"Ok, you're soaking wet do you want some coffee?" She looked out at the light rain and back to the dripping man in front of her.

"No its ok no coffee." He looked down at his soaking wet clothes and rolled his senbon around in his mouth with annoyance. "Not everyone is inside this morning where normal people spend a rainy morning…instead I have to walk all over the village to try to track them down.."

He scoffed thinking about the hour long hunt to find Kakashi he had just come from. His pity for the depressed Jounin had disappeard somewhere between the long walk and the soaking wet clothes. Tsunade had specifically sent the copy-nin the summons last night. He had over twelve hours to make the five minute walk to her office on time. But no, He was still late and Genma got sent on a Hatake-Hunt in the rain no less. Everyone in Hokage tower hated being sent on a Hatake-Hunt.

Sakura looked at the Jounin with confusion before shrugging it off, she didn't need an explanation from the soaking wet man.

"Ok Genma, thank you. I'll get dressed and head over"

* * *

"Good morning Shishou."

"Sakura there is something"

The creak of the door opening slowly interrupted the Hokage's train of thought and caused her to glance over Sakura's shoulder and her eyes flashed with impatience.

"You're late..." her voice deadpanned eyes still locked on the target of her hostilities.

The pink haired-medic felt her stomach drop as the smell of coffee drifted into the room. Only one man ever dared stroll in to Tsunade's office late, and there was only one man Tsunade had given up all hope of punctuality for.

"ahhh, yes...I was catching up with some old friends and we lost track of time..."

Sakura heart jumped in her chest. She hadn't heard him speak since the hearing and not for two weeks before that.

'_He sounds so tired …'_

"Save it for someone who gives a damn Hatake." She swatted away the copy-ninjas excuses like an annoying fly.

"There is something I need you two to do …"

* * *

** A/N**

**A big thanks to you guys reveiwing it really does inspire me. I laugh manically (which is troubling for my co-workers when I get the emails on my phone during work lol) and my brain starts going into over drive thinking of all the different things to do to our lovely little friends kaka and saku...**

**/\_/\ **

**Ninken Ears.**


	6. Slamming doors

I do not own Naruto.

_**Slamming Doors.**_

* * *

The clock on the wall seemed unbearably loud as it made its steady progression through time.

_Tick-tock-tick-tock-tick-tock_

"Is there a problem?" the Godaime looked on her two silent subordinates, drumming her fingers on the desk with irritation. "It's been almost four weeks since you both returned. I have a mission I need done."

Kakashi took a sip of his too hot coffee through his mask to buy some time for his thought process to kick in. _'Way too hot._' The Jounin pulled away from the coffee rapidly, causing some of it to spill on the ground. He knew this was going to happen with Sakura; he just wanted it to be later. They were both part of team seven, and teams do things together, like missions. Successful missions are often paralleled with efficient communication throughout the team. Any shinobi worth their weight knew that. Only now he wasn't talking to one half of his team because one of them was dead, and the other blamed him for that death. That would result in a fifty percent loss of communication throughout the team. Not good odds.

"A mission?" Sakura's voice was laced with a level of uncertainty that made the silver Jounin wince inwardly.

'_Is she afraid to go on a mission now, because of what happened at the campsite or does she just not want to go on a mission with me?' _

"Yes Sakura, a mission. I understand you both went through a lot, but you two are some of my best Shinobi and right now I need you." The blonde women continued looking at the two ninja in front of her taking in their extremely different appearances with a wry frown.

Kakashi stood before his hokage a slouching mess. He had one hand tucked away in his pocket and his other loosely gripping a cup of steaming hot coffee, that for some reason was garnering all his attention. His hair usually gravity defying, was soaked and dripping down his forehead. His whole uniform actually was was soaking wet, she noticed. Her brows scrunched together with a level of annoyance that only the copy-ninja could bring her so early in the day. A small puddle of water had formed under his feet near the coffee he had spilled. He was ruining the carpet.

Sakura, beside him stood upright and alert her hands clasped together loosely as she gazed back at her Shishou. She was dressed in the same uniform that her team-leader wore but the effect was completely different. Her pink hair fell loosely down around the collar of her green vest right above her shoulders. Her standard issue black shirt and pants were clean and ready. She appeared prepared for whatever her Hokage needed from her. Tsunade knew her student though, Sakura was too focused, too ready. She was not an Anbu-robot, she never mindlessly carried out tasks, she asked questions, posed inquires, offered suggestions and generally stuck her nose into anything she could. Now she was standing attentively silent awaiting orders. She was being strange.

'_They both seem very off today._' Tsunade mused to herself. She had known these two for years and she could tell when something was amiss. It was vexing that she didn't know what the root cause of their strangeness was. She was the Hokage, she should know everything.

Kakashi cleared his throat still staring at his steaming beverage causing the Sanin to turn her eyes back to him "Tsunade-sama, if Sakura isn't ready for a mission yet. I'm sure we can find some -"

Sakura recoiled at Kakashi's suggestion. _'He doesn't even want to work with me anymore I-'_

Her Hokage's outburst curbed all thoughts she had.

"**I** am the Hokage here!** I** will say when someone is ready for a mission!" Tsunade stood and slammed her hand down on her desk in anger. "I do not know what is wrong with you two this morning, but get it together and do it **now!**"

The pink and silver shinobi nodded obsequiously. Both parties shamed by the fact that their Hokage had seen through their pretenses. Even if she couldn't pin point the source of unease she had laid it out on the table for all to see. It was an unnerving experience.

Tsunade, appeased sat back down in her chair. She leaned over to prop her elbows up on the desk and rest her chin on her hands, as she began to describe the mission she had set aside for them.

"Ibiki and Inoichi have been working on the man you brought back with you. There is some sort of high-level justu on him and they haven't been able to get any real information. Even with all of their_ 'experience'_ in retrieving intel from prisoners, they haven't gotten anything useful. The only thing we know for sure is that he and the other rouge-ninja are part of something much bigger. I am sending Naruto, Shikamaru and Hinata to Suna tomorrow morning. They are going to meet with the Kazekage and explain what we have discovered and see they have any information that could help us. I have also heard they may have some scrolls that could be extremely useful in breaking the Jutsu that is protecting that mans mind from infiltration."

Sakura and Kakashi listened intently to the breakdown of information the Hokage was giving them. If there was anything that could distract them from the personal turmoil they were both feeling at being in such close proximity to eachother, it was work. They were both Shinobi after all and when they caught the scent of a mission that might see revenge for their fallen comrade everything else faded to black and thier vision narrowed.

"Ok Shishou, so you want us to go with them and help convince the Kazekage and his council to give us assistance?" her voice had lost its timid edge in the face of work and she now sounded confident and eager.

"No. I want you two to accompany them as far as Tani, the village in River country."

Sakura's heart rate increased, she could sense the direction her Shishou was going in. Her shoulders tensed and she shifted her weight away from Kakashi slightly. She was so torn about what to do. She wanted to apologize to the man next to her, to take back the cruel things she said, but how could she? She couldn't take it back and that was that. What if he just rejected her apology and threw it back in her face like she had done to him? It would be no less than she deserved.

'_How am I supposed to work with him on a mission with him alone? He doesn't even want to talk to me…'_

"There I want you to search, ask questions and discover anything that might help us. It is clear that the rouge-nin were traveling in between Suna, Fire and River country. I have two different teams searching over the Fire country now, combing for any information. Naruto's team and Gaara will deal anything happening in Suna.

The copy-nin had not taken his eye off of his coffee as Tsunade spoke, but as she began to discuss the details he let his eye drift over to his teammate. Her shoulders were bunched up around her neck and her fingers were clenched at her sides. She still hadn't even looked at him.

'_How are you supposed to work a mission alone with her when she can't even look at you?'_

Tsunade continued listing off the details of their mission, oblivious to the anxiety that had slipped in to the room. "I need you two, to handle River. Tani is the largest village in River and if anything is happening there, someone in that village will know it. Originally I was just going to send you Kakashi."

'_You could always change your mind again….'_ he thought hopefully turning away from Sakura and back to Tsunade as she spoke. The Godaime's eyes had drifted up to catch the copy-ninja in her sights.

"You have the needed experiance in situations like this from when you were in Anbu. I need your discretion in this mission. I also need you for the Ninken, the dogs can cover a lot of ground and already have the scent of the enemy. That could be very useful."

Tsunade shifted in her seat and her gaze fell on her Apprentice.

"Sakura I decided to send you because there may be some places or situations where a woman could obtain information more easily than a man could." She let her voice drift off as her Ninja duo took in the information she just gave them.

"What do you mean Shishou?" Sakura asked tentatively, although she knew full well what her Shishou meant. She was not completely un-aware of the espionage techniques Tsunade was referring to. She was a kunoichi after all and had studied this method if not actually having put it to use. (Unless you count flirting and a friendly touch when she didn't have the money to buy herself dinner) When you are behind enemy lines you use every weapon you have too in order to complete the mission.

"You know what I mean Sakura. I'm not saying that is our _only_ method and I do not excpect you to utilize it unless absolutely necessary. This is to be a routine intelligence gathering operation not a covert sting. All I'm saying that sometimes a pretty face can go places...where that can't go." She waved her hand toward the messy Jounin. " You are a young, beautiful women and one of the most powerful Kunoichi in the fire country; it's a combination that we would be a foolish not to exploit. It is always better to have it and not use it, than not have it at all. So that is why you will be seconding this mission."

Kakshi had gone blank and Tsunade began explaining the reasons for Sakura's participation in the mission. He clenched his jaw against the protests that were building in his mind.

The Sanin raised a hand and pointed to both of them accusingly."Now after saying that, listen to me and listen well. I don't need either of you getting in to a big mess. As of now we are on thin ice with all the countries around us after the war. I do not need you two going in to River and causing an incident. If anything seems to be falling out of place, leave and do it quickly."

The copy-ninja listened to his Hokage while the idea of his pink-haired medic skimping around bars with a fake flirtatious smile began running through his head. She didn't need to go through this now. Not after what happened last month, he didn't want to see her flinging herself at the slum lords in some slimy water-logged country. His eye narrowed at Tsunade viciously, heat building up in his chest. He bit down on his jaw to keep his mouth shut.

'_Is she serious?'_

"I don't think this is an appropriate mission for Sakura..." He ground out through his clench teeth. So much for keeping his mouth.

Tsunade eyebrows raised sharply at the belligerent tone in Kakashi's voice and his hostile posture. She leveled her own threatening gaze at him.

"It's not your decision Kakashi. I've already made up my mind. You will be in Tani until Naruto has completed his mission in Suna. I will expect weekly updates on your progress. You are not required to stay in Tani, if you catch word of something else happening in River go check it out. Do you two have any questions?"

Sakura shifted uneasily at the two had their vicious staring competion. "No, Tsunade-Sama. I understand and will do my best." The young medic reached forward and plucked her mission scroll out of Tsunade's hand. The blonde didn't even turn to her as she did so, continuing to match gazes with the infamous sharingan user. Bowing quickly, the medic made for the exit. The tension in the air of the office had grown to chokingly high levels. The pink haired women had been in through enough of Tsunade's outburst to know when one was brewing. She did not want to be caught in the cross-fire, as a victim of friendly fire between the Copy-Ninja and a legendary Sanin.

"Do you have any questions…Kakashi?" The Hokage's eyes stared in to the copy-nin's own her words brisk and dismissive, challenging him to try her patience one more time that morning.

Kakashi stepped forward his eye still ablaze with frustration as he snatched his own scroll out of her hand. His heart pounded in his chest with anger as he marched out of the room and yanked the the door behind him closed, the resulting vibrations knocking a nearby picture off the wall. He tried to calm his breath as he walked down the long flight of stairs but the lingering effects of his temper made the task difficult.

Kakashi shook his head as he walked out of the building. He had disagreed with the Hokage's decisions before but had never been so blatantly insubordinate. _'What the hell is wrong with me?' _He ran a hand over his face in annoyance, sighing deeply at himself and he made his was home to prepare for the mission.

* * *

Sakura had returned to her small apartment and spent the rest of the day reading over her mission scroll and preparing for the tasks that lie in front of her. When mid-afternoon came around she surveyed her small apartment with sadness. It seemed like she only just returned. Now she was going out again after the same enemies that got away before. She gave a deep sigh her eyes swept over the sketches that Sai had drawn, she moved to pick up the picture of herself and Kakashi her thoughts tumbling over the hostility of her team-leader that morning.

_'I need to fix this...'_

"Sakura-chan are you home?"

The medic swiveled around and dropped the picture quickly, as Naruto stepped inside her house with Hinata close behind him.

"Naruto, stop just barging in my house…what If I had someone over?"

Hinata's face turned a light shade of pink as looked up at the blonde man. "I told you Naruto-kun, you shouldn't just be walking in to Sakura's house like that"

"Who would you have over?" he asked his face scrunching in to a look of amusement. "That idiot Hyato again?"

Sakura rolled her eyes at her comrade for bringing up the Anbu officer she dated for just few months.

"I haven't seen him over a year, Naruto." Truthfully she had only dated him because she wanted everyone to leave her alone about getting a boyfriend. Hyato was attractive and successful which met her minimum requirements. After Team-seven had aided his squad on a small mission he kept coming around to see her, so she accepted his invitation to dinner and it had gone from there.

They had seen each other for about five months, her longest relationship to date. Like with many of the men that had tried to gain her affections he was jealous of her close friendship with her teammates. Hyato had lasted longer than any other the others though. She had attributed it had to the fact that he was a very skilled Anbu officer. Many men thought the idea of the Hokages apprentice was incredibly exciting, but upon seeing her break and tree in half with her fist, well the excitement lost its appeal. Her power house strength coupled with her temper was enough to make all but the bravest men wilt in her presence.

XXX

_The whole façade fell apart one night when Naruto had barged in with Sai and Kakashi on his heels to get Sakura to go out to dinner with them all. Hyato was over and Sakura was in the shower when the trio had waltzed in. Sakura emerged from the bathroom in her robe when she heard the sound of raised voices. _

_Hyato was attempting to throw the three out claiming they had no right to coming barging into his girlfriend's apartment and asking her to dinner. Kakashi was blatantly ignoring the Anbu mans protests, he had draped himself across the recliner and had pulled one of her books from her bookshelf on the wall and was studiously reading it. The orange ninja had of course risen to the challenge._

"_Shut-up Hyato, we have been Sakura's teammates for years. You're just afraid she's gunna blow you off and come with us."_

"_She's my girlfriend Uzumaki. You don't just come by and ask her to go to out with you guys when she is already with me!"_

"_Sakura has never referred to you as her boyfriend Hyato-sempai. Could you explain why she doesn't call you her boyfriend but you openly refer to her as your girlfriend?" Sai had stepped up with his strange tilted smile, a notepad in his hands ready to jot down Hyato's answer._

"_See! You're not even her boyfriend! So don't try to speak for her you idiot." Naruto scoffed._

"_I am over her house you dumbass…obviously I'm her boyfriend."_

"_Well with that definition, then we are all her boyfriends…" Sai looked around to the three other men in the room calculating the validity of his answer._

_Kakashi looked up from his book with an eye crinkle and a small chuckle at Sai's deduction. "Oh that's true Hyato-San..."_

_Hyato's face was beginning to turn red with irritation._

_Naruto made a move to push past Hyato to go retrieve Sakura from the bathroom to end the debate once and for all._

_When Sakura opened the door she saw several things at once. First she saw Naruto reaching for the door she had just opened. Second she saw Hyato behind him raising a fist at her unaware blonde friend. Sai had lost all traces of laughter and was stepping up behind Hyato to grab him. Kakashi was already up, stepping over her couch and tossing the book behind him as he lurched across the room to intercept the impending battle._

_Sakura didn't even think twice. She grabbed Naruto and threw him out of the way and caught Hyato's fist in her own hand and shoved him against her wall with the other hand. The chakra enforced shove caused the wall to buckle slightly._

"_What the hell are you doing Hyato!?"_

_All the men in the room froze and stared at the dripping pink haired woman in a robe that was engulfed with rage._

"_Sakura, I've had it with these guys! They can't just run in here and take you whenever they want! You need to tell them to stop it or I'm leaving"_

"_Ok then…Hyato"_

_They all four watched as Hyato gathered up what was left of his pride and the few possessions he kept at Sakura's apartment and left quietly._

_She had turned to her comrades with a shake of her head as they all eyed her innocently. "I told you guys he hates it when you all come storming in here like that. It was only like three days ago. You did that on purpose."_

_They denied the accusations whole-heartedly, claiming not to remember her saying anything like that before._

_She had changed clothes and went out to dinner with them, Hyato all but forgotten about._

_XXXX_

Sakura shook her head as she glanced over to the cracks in the wall that were still there from that night and a small laugh escaped her lips and She turned back to the couple.

"What's up? You guys do you need something?"

"ahh yes Sakura, we were all going to get something to eat and thought you might want to join us. Tsunade-Sama told us a few hours ago you would be going with us tomorrow and we thought it would be nice to go out before we leave." Hinata's dainty voice had a hopeful tone that Sakura could not deny.

"Ok where are we going? I'll get changed and meet you there."

Naruto smiled brightly. "Ok Sakura-Chan, we're going to go to that new place, you know the one on the same street as the old bookstore?"

Sakura nodded in comprehension. "Ok you two, you go ahead and I will be there in a little bit"

"Ok see you there Sakura-chan"

And with that the couple disappeared out of her door to head off to the restaurant.

* * *

The pinkette showered quickly and moved to her closet to frown at her choice's of clothing._ 'I really need to do some shopping.'_ She settled on a black skirt that hit her right at mid-thigh and a pink tank-top, she pulled on a light see-through white shirt over the tank and stepped in to a pair of small heels. She turned to look in the mirror, something she had been avoiding these past few weeks and her eyes automatically went to the two scars. She traced them lightly with her finger and felt the clench of emotion begin to stir in her stomach as she thought about all that had happened.

Sakura pushed away the thoughts. "I'm going to have a nice night with my friends tonight. It's what Sai would want." She decided to fore-go the makeup and just ran a brush though her pink locks before she made her way out of the door.

She found the building easily and scoured the place for her table of friends. She found them after a small search. The group consisted of Naruto, Hinata, Rock lee, Tenten and Kiba. She moved across the crowded restaurant and went to go sit at the table across from Naruto and Hinata, which put her right between Kiba and Tenten. The Inuzaka boy gave her a toothy grin and rubbed her shoulder gently in a greeting.

"Sakura, I'm glad you're ok.."

"Thank you Kiba. It's nice seeing you. Your sister has done a wonderful job with Pakkun and Bull"

"Yeah we were really worried about the little guy for a while but he is tough. Both of them are mission ready now."

"Thats great we're going to need them."

The group quickly ordered their food and drinks and began catching up with each other. Kiba, Lee and Tenten told about the mission they had just come back from that morning. It was an unexciting adventure to escort the Daimyo across the border with Gai-Sensei. After an hour or so passed everyone was in a great mood, so when Tenten suggested they make their way to the bar down the road everyone jumped on the idea. Nobody wanted the night to end so early and the sun had just gone down. They wanted to spend more time together before everyone set out on what could be a very long mission apart.

The friends made their way down the road toward the bar. The boys had decided to race of course, while Hinata, Sakura and Tenten said a walk was much more suitable for them. The stars had just started appearing in the sky under the fall of dark and the street's were quiet now. A breeze had picked up causing Sakura shiver slightly and grasp at the hem of her skirt to keep it from blowing up around her face, she didn't need anyone see her panties as she paraded down the street.

The three girls entered the bar and relaxed as the warmth washed over them. They walked over to the table the men had chosen near the dance floor smiles creeping up on their faces. The atmosphere was lively and bright, the music was begging to be danced too and Sakura felt herself growing giddy with excitement. It had been ages since she went out with her friends like this and weeks since she felt herself really be happy. Without even realizing what she was doing Sakura let herself go, she let go of the worry and sadness that had been plaguing her for the last few weeks. She Danced and laughed and drank with her friends submerging herself in the contagious happiness that permeated the air.

* * *

Kakashi sat on the upper level of the bar, looking down at his two teammates and their friends as they stood together laughing loudly. Something the tall blonde man said had caused his white-eyed girlfriend to blush profusely, everyone else had burst into laughter. He shook his head with a small smile on his face at the energetic group.

"Our young comrades seem to being having a good time tonight. You want to go down and join them?" Might Gai had shown up at Kakashi's apartment earlier that evening and coerced him into going out to have a few drinks before he left on his mission tomorrow. Kakashi had quickly acquiesced. The thought of the approaching mission alone with Sakura and his irrational behavior with the Hokage that morning had convinced him that a drink or two, or ten, was not a bad idea at all.

"No, Gai. I don't want to interrupt them and ruin their fun" his downcast tone caused the green beast of Konoha to turn back around to his silver-haired friend.

"Why would you think that?

Kakashi shrugged and took another sip of his beer. Gai was one of his closest friends but he wasn't sure he wanted to start this conversation with him. " I don't know…" He shifted his eye back to the group and eyed his pink medic. Sakura was laughing hysterically as she and Tenten spun around the dance floor like children. They had one arm crossed over the other as they clasped on to each other's hands, spinning round and round. Even in his state of dejection the sight of seeing the two deadly kunoichi acting like fools brought a small smile to his face.

Gai followed his gaze to the women. "…Something wrong between you and Sakura…?"

The copy ninja reached up and rubbed his face wearily. "Yeah…."

Gai sat with his silent friend and watched the women. He had known Kakashi since they were children, he had learned how to communicate with the non-verbose man a long time ago. The secret was patience. As the women finished there childlike dance and returned to the table his comrade finally decided to give in.

"I haven't spoken to her in almost a month now, because of what happened that day." He finished off his beer and nodded to the waitress for another round as he decided if he should continue with the story or just leave it at that.

Gai sat listening to the music and sipping his drink while he waited Kakashi out.

"..I was the one that told her about what happened to Sai when we were at the Anbu outpost. She blamed me, screamed at me and told me to get out of her room. I let her down Gai. I let them all down."

"Kakashi, you failed to see underneath the underneath this time." Gai shook his head sadly toward his friend and gestured down toward the group below. "Sakura is a very dedicated shinobi, she is Tsunade's apprentice and an élite medic. Do you think she really blames you or herself?"

The masked man listened to his friend as he watched the medic below, his eye moving against his will to travel up the length of her legs to the hem of her skirt. He mentally chided himself with one half of his brain while the other half noted how smooth and muscular they looked. He'd never seen her dance before. She looked so carefree.

Gai frowned at the copy-nins lack of response. "You should just go talk to her Kakashi, don't be a stubborn fool."

"hmmm, your probably right Gai."

Kakashi leaned forward as he watched Sakura accept the outstretched hand of the Inuzuka man. He chewed the inside of his cheek,a twitch of irritation spread over him as the two danced together. The twitch grew to spasm as he watched as the medic laughed and ducked out of the way with as Kiba tried to place a light kiss on her lips. She shook her head and he could see her mouthing the word 'no' to him, the fanged nuisance was clearly feeling brave under the influence of alcohol.

Sakura broke of her dance with Kiba as the song ended; he was being a little too enthusiastic for her tastes but in his defense he _had_ drank almost half the bar. She left him on the dance floor as he tried to hone his seduction skills on the closest woman he could find. She twirled around to try to find her other friends. Naruto and Hinata were pressed close together at the table deep in conversation. She smiled as she eyed the pair of love-birds, she was delighted when Naruto had started perusing her Hyuuga friend after the war. They were great together. She continued her rotation and found Lee and Tenten dancing insanely in the middle of the floor, jumping around, doing hand-stands and spinning all the while laughing manically at eachother.

The sharingan user watched Sakura abandon the dog-man on the dance floor with a smile. He followed her as she spun around, her skirt swirling around her thighs in a way that was decidedly innocent and provocative all at the same time. He glanced over at Gai, in the off chance his friend could hear his inappropriate thoughts.

'_Hello Gai can you hear me?' _

He couldn't. The green Ninja was laughing at his two subordinates that were having some sort of crazy dance off in the middle of the floor.

He looked back to Sakura as she glanced around the bar deciding what to do next.

The pink haired medic bit her lip in thought as she tried to decide what to do next. She didn't want to inturrupt Naruto or Hinata. She didn't want to do, whatever it was Tenten and Lee were doing. Kiba was trying his fangs out on the blushing neck of some civilian girl and she really didn't want to join that party either.

'_He really is a dog….'_

* * *

She looked up toward the second floor to see what was going on up there. Her heart sunk in to her stomach and then jumped back into her throat as she caught the eye of her team-leader glancing down at her softly.

Everything around them stopped.

'_Do something…Kakashi..make youself do something..anything...don't just sit here"_ the copy ninja did nothing and just sat there, holding the startled gaze of the pink haired girl.

'_Oh no…how long has he been here? I haven't seen him in so long' _She took in the causal appearance of the copy-ninja above her. He was dressed in dark jeans and a charcoal grey v-neck t-shirt under a black hoodie that was partly zipped up. He of course had his mask in place and his hitai-ate was pulled over his eye. His hair was falling all over the place.

'_He looks nice…do something. Walk up to him, go apologize.'_ She stood there in shock, not walking up to him not apologizing.

Kakashi's mind was traveling a thousand miles a minute. He vaguely heard Gai from somewhere telling him he was going down to the bathroom. All of his focus was on the stunned girl staring at him below. He thought of a million heartfelt profond things he could do or say. He didn't do any of them; instead he smiled lightly, his eye-crinkling as held up two fingers in a small wave.

'_Brilliant move Hatake…of all the deep and meaningful things you could do..sit here with a beer in one hand and wave like an idiot'_

Sakura face broke into a huge smile. The anxiety she had been feeling over the last month crumbled away. He was waving and smiling like he had done so often in the past.

Kakashi's heart fluttered disturbingly in his chest as he saw his pink medic smile up at him. He stood quickly to go to her, as she herself moved toward the stairs to meet him. There was a note of panic in there rushed movements, as if they didn't get to each other fast enough maybe things would go back to the way they were before. He met her on the bottom of the stairs and they stared at each other for an awkward moment unsure of what to say.

"I'm so sorry Kakashi. I didn't mean it, I'm sorry for how I've acted. I didn't"

"Sakura, don't apologize it's not your fault"

"It's not yours either Kakashi

He looked around at the crowed bar and nodded toward the door, not wanting to have this conversation in the middle of a loud dance floor. Sakura nodded in understanding and quickly finished her drink as he did the same. They made their way out into the quiet streets of Konoha together.

* * *

The pinkette frowned lightly as the cool breeze whipped around her bare legs but said no word about it. She was finally talking with Kakashi and she needed to make this right. The streets were empty for the most part as they made their way silently along no particular destination in mind.

"Sakura, I'm sorry about what happened. I regret every decision I made on that mission. I'm sorry for what it cost you." The pain in his voice echoed through his words as he glanced at her face, his eye lingering on the pale scars just visible under the moonlit sky.

She grasped his hand lightly and shook her head. "No, it's not your fault. You couldn't have known what was going to happen... it's over now. I said horrible things to you and I've been so afraid this last month that I ruined our friendship"

The silver-haired jounin griped her hand in his own tightly as he moved to sit down, gently pulling her down next to him. His shoulders felt lighter and his chest felt less restricted as he heard her words. They sat in companionable silence for a long time,quietly watching the few people who were out as the stars moved across the sky.

"Sakura. I wish we would've done this weeks ago. I should've come talk to you as soon as we got back but I didn't want to upset you again."

"I'm wasn't mad at you. I knew it as soon as I said those things. I was the team medic..…" She felt a familiar pang of guilt as she shifted her weight and crossed her legs tugging her skirt down, trying to maximize her clothing to ward off the chilly night air.

The copy-ninja notice her fidgeting with her clothing and let his eye travel over her attire, which was distinctly unsuitable for the chilly breeze. His gaze lingered longer then was absolutely necessary on her legs and the line of her collar-bone under the light white pull over shirt she had on.

"It's cold Sakura, let me take you home." He stood and held out his hand to her.

"No it's ok it 's not that cold" she grimaced lightly as another breeze caused a shiver to run up her body and call her bluff. She didn't want this to end yet, she was so happy they were speaking again. What if it was weird again tomorrow.

He smiled lightly his eye crinkling into the familiar face she had seen so often, sensing the reason for her hesitation. "It's alright Sakura, we have a mission together starting in the morning…don't worry."

She took his hand and stood up with him silently. "You promise?"

He laughed lightly the sound causing a small fluttering in her stomach.

"I promise Sakura" he unzipped his coat and laid it over her shoulders. After a moment of hesitation he wrapped an arm around his shivering teammate and rubbed his hand over her upper arm in an attempt to warm her.

The pink-haired medic inhaled the scent of her team-leader as he put the jacket around her shoulders, and curled in to his side. She told herself it only felt so nice because it just alittle cold out. She told her self she didn't enjoy his strong arm around her shoulders or the way his hand massaged her arm for any reason other than for body heat.

As she pressed up against his side for warmth the hedonistic side of the copy-ninja's brain leapt with joy.

'_She feels so nice...' _He mentally reprimanded himself for delighting in the feel of her meshed into his side too much ._ "..nope..don't do that..this is Sakura your subordinate and teammate...'_

They both walked down the streets of Konoha, reveling in each other companionship and denying it fervently. They reached her apartment building much too soon and she remorsefully she left his side to unlock her front door. The medic turned in the doorway once she got it open and smiled up at the masked man in front of her.

"Thanks Kakashi…." She froze as he quietly reached up put his hand on the side of her face, his thumb lightly tracing the pale scars. Her breath caught in her throat and she listened to her heart begin drumming in her chest. Her mind went blank as his gaze traveled over her face slowly.

"I missed you…" his word's were just above a whisper in her ears.

She reached her hands up slowly to grasp at the one that was touching her face. She nodded slowly in understanding and leaned her face in to his touch.

"I know I missed -"

A door slammed somewhere near-by and they both jumped, glancing around guiltily.

His hand had disappeared from her face in that instant. He gave his famous eye-crinckled smile and reached out to ruffle her hair. She pulled away from him slapping his hand away in feigned irritation.

"See you bright and early in the morning Sakura!" he turned and began walking down the hallway toward the exit.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Ok and if your late you have to carry Naruto all the way there"

He gave another small wave over his shoulder and disappeared down the staircase as Sakura stepped in her apartment and closed the door behind her. She let out a breath she had been holding and leaned back against her closed-door, putting her hands over her mouth in jaw-dropped shock.

'_What just happened..and why wasn't I stopping_ it?' Her mind was full uneasy thoughts about her team-leader as she prepared for bed that night.

The copy-nin made his way across the village toward his own apartment, running over the nights events quietly. His thoughts continued to screech to a halt as he thought of the last moments at the door with his pink haired medic.

_'What was I about to do?...'_

He was so grateful for slamming doors.

* * *

**/\_/\ _Thanks for making it this far._**

**Ninken Ears Loves Reviews.**


	7. Small truths Big lies

Still do not own Naruto.

**_Small truths and Big Lies_**

* * *

The five Konoha Shinobi had been traveling for five days at a steady pace, stopping at nightfall to go over their separate missions they had in tracking down information on the Rouge-nin that they had encountered. Naruto, Shikamaru and Hinata all had their own strings to pull and techniques to use to acquire the necessary aid from Suna. Naruto of course had a deep, strong friendship with the Kazekage, Garra would be willing to help him in any endeavor that he could. The main problems would be with the council, where Shikamaru's cunning and ability to rationalize arguments would assist. Hinata's poise and knowledge of the workings of hierarchy type circles, from years of clan delegations, would come in handy while trying to persuade the elders to allow the scroll to leave Suna. The trio had been working together to attempt to secure and strengthen the frail bond between all the countries since the war had ended.

Sakura sat on the opposite side of the fire from the three Suna bound ninja, gazing in to their small campfire. She had been on alert the entire trip, she felt wary and nervous ready to be attacked at any moment. The logical side of her brain told her this was a symptom of PTSD but the irrational half channeled chakra to her legs and arms every time she heard a stick pop or the leaves rustle. She had even, on the first night away from Konho been three seconds away from slamming a chakra infused fist in to Shikamaru's mouth.

_He had jumped down out of a tree to wake up Kakashi for his turn at watch startling her from her sleep. Only the quick actions of the shadow-user, to bind the charging pinkette in place had allowed her enough time to discern Shikamaru from the enemy she thought him to had been so embarrassed and apologized profusely. He shrugged and laid down telling her it wasn't a big deal. Her adrenaline had planted itself in her bloodstream by then and she could not sleep, so she offered her silver-haired teammate to cover his watch. He had refused and told her to go back and get some rest; she of course had also refused. So they spent the rest of the night in silence together sitting side by side on the branch of a tall tree keeping watch over their sleeping comrades._

Sakura felt a familar chakra enter the area as she turned to remove an apple from her bag. Then a silver-haired man flopped down next to her on the a large broken limb she was seated on.

'I sent the guys out to run a quick patrol; we are only about twenty miles from Tani. I want them to see if they pick up on any scents or anything at all.' The Jounin man ran a hand through his unkempt locks as he laid his exposed eye on her apple.

Sakura fought off a small smile as she watched Kakashi in her peripheral vision as he eyed her apple with envy before she took the first bite out of it happily.

The copy-ninja watched as his teammate took a bite out of the apple. He watch6ed her lips as they kissed the smooth skin of the fruit before her teeth sunk into it. He watched her wipe of some of the juice that ran down her chin after she pulled her mouth away. He felt a distressing churning in the pit of his stomach. _'I'm jealous of an apple…this is completely inappropriate.'_

The pink-haired kunoichi frowned lightly and turned from her drooling teammate with an eye roll. She reached to pull her kuni from her side and began slicing the apple down the center and then offer him the larger half.

'Here, you big baby...take it..'

"mmm..How did you know?" The mask-man smiled and picked the proffered apple from her hand.

"..You were practically in my mouth Kakashi.." She leveled her gaze at the Jounin trying to look impervious, which only lasted about the two seconds it took for her words to echo back in her ears.

"Was I now?..." Kakashi voice had a dark playful tone to it that caused warmth to spread over the medic's face quickly. "I'll have to pay more attention next time." He turned from Sakura to lower his mask and pop the apple in his mouth while mentally scolding himself for the innuendo in his words._ 'That's dangerous, Hatake…stop it'_

"I have seen your face already…you don't have to turn around." Sakura tried to grasp on to her feelings of irritation hoping they would combat and smother the emotions that were making her blush. _'Really... Sakura? Kakashi?... Your blushing over Kakashi?' _If she could slap herself on the forehead without seeming like an idiot at that moment she would have. Instead she stomped down her girlish feelings and scooted closer to him trying to get a glimpse of his face.

"Haruno-San" The copy-nin pulled his mask back up and turned to face the woman who was attempting to creep over his shoulder. Thwarting her juvenile attempts at seeing his face un-masked. "Can I help you?"

"No Hatake-San, I do not think you can." She sat back roughly and scoffed, folding her arms as she looked over the fire with her eyes narrowed in irritation. The frustrated medic watched the three shinobi that were wrapping up their nightly agenda while she shifted her body slightly so she was turned from her team leader, trying to openly display her annoyance at him.

"aww Haruno-San…don't be mad" He chuckled lightly and leaned toward her putting his arm around her shoulder, drawing her stiff body back to him. "I'll show you when we are in Tani..if you really want."

"I don't want to see your stupid face…" She turned farther away from him leaning the opposite direction he tried to pull her in. She was amazing when it came to being obstinate.

He leaned in toward her and whispered lightly in her ear. "Liar…" He unclasped his hands that were around her quickly, causing her to lose her balance and pitch off the log on to her hands.

She had felt a renewed wave of heat surge up to her face as he whispered the words in her ear, then let her fall forward on to her hands and knees. Heat gone. The pinkette righted herself and brushed her hands off on her pants all the while snarling about Kakashi being an egotistical masked idiot.

Hinata, Shikamaru and Naruto had finished their discussion and made their way over to the duo. The all stood taking in Sakura's irritated demeanor as she brushed dirt from her hands and knees. Kakashi's all too guilty eye-crinckled smile peered at them from over top of his Icha Icha book.

"Are you alright Sakura?" Hinata's concerned voice inquired.

"I'm fine Hinata, thank you." She shot a venomous look toward Kakashi, who was doing a fine job of ignoring her from behind his book.

"You better hide behind that book..." she warned viciously

The copy ninja lifted the book higher to completely block out his face from veiw.

The angry kunoichi rolled her eyes and marched off toward her bed-roll.

Shikamaru's eyes traveled back and forth between the Copy-nin and the Hokage's apprentice shrewdly as he bent down to put away the scrolls they had looked over. Naruto had shrugged his shoulders at the ordeal and made his way over to his own bed. A mad Sakura was not something odd, it came with the territory of working around her, so he opted to ignore it. He quietly thanked whoever he needed to that Hinata had been graced with much more pacience then his pink-haired teammate, before he drifted off to sleep.

Within the hour the rest of the group had drifted off to sleep. Hinata had taken the first watch of the night; she looked quietly over her friends thinking about all the different things that could happen on this mission. They would split up in the morning and go their separate ways, Kakashi and Sakura gathering intel in Tani. While herself, Naruto and Shikamaru would try to gain assistance from Suna. She hoped everything went well. Team seven had already suffered so much.

* * *

"Ok, So we are Konoha Shinobi out looking for missing-nin, Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane. Last seen two weeks ago in Tani village in River country. " The pink haired women, shook her head and laughed lightly as Kakashi questioned her on the cover for their snooping around in Tani. "I still can't believe that you are having our fake hunt be for Izumo and Kotestsu, they are going to be so pissed off at you when they find out."

"Well it's better to be looking for them and know they are in Konoha. If we pretended to be after an actual missing-nin and they were here, well that would be awkward... And…Who's going to tell them anyway?"

She raised an eyebrow and shrugged innocently. "Who knows how these things get out?"

The copy-nin ruffled her hair before she could slap his hand away "Ok, sounds good. We will still be Konoha Shinobi while we are in Tani, but we do not need anyone knowing our real reason for being there. Small truths hide the big lies. While we ask about our missing-nin, we can inquire more safely toward other topics and no-one should be the wiser. We do not want to make anyone suspicious."

He moved his hands to the correct signs and preformed a quick henge to hide his appearance as she did the same. They would still be Konoha shinobi true, but they would not be the infamous copy-nin and the Hokages apprentice. Kakashi had changed his hair-color to a dark brown and added a few pounds to his lean frame. Sakura too had change her hair to a darkish blonde, removed her scars and added more profound curves to her body. It didn't' take much to fool most people and a light henge was easy to keep up during most situations, even if they found themselves in the middle of a fight.

"I'll send one of the Ninken here once a week to pass anything we have found to Naruto's toads." He motioned to the edge of a slow-moving river they were standing beside. "Then the toad will appear back in Konoha and report to the Hokage."

She nodded in comprehension to the not-kakashi that stood in front of her, before he turned to lead them the last mile in to Tani.

* * *

Tani was know to be a very beauitful place at one time, but it seemed that the war had taken its toll everywhere. The River village was fairly large and densely populated. It was set spanning over several large rivers. Bridges of stone and wood linked the damp city in to one whole. Before the war the people of Tani had made an effort to rid the building and streets of the grimy affects the constant spray and run off the rivers, creeks and tributaries would cause. Now it seemed that the center of Tani sat as a discarded, sordid accumulation of buildings and houses. Green and black moss and mold pervaded almost everything, the streets were slick with algae. The area of the village they traversed had a light stench to it, that was somewhere between rotten eggs and dirty dish rags. Crowds of civilians pushed stinking carts full of fish and other types of river-life to sell at the loud market that was set-up down by the largest river that passed through the center of town. The entire effect of what they had seen so far was unsettling on the senses of the two Konoha Shinobi.

Sakura's nose wrinkled in distaste as she padded silently next to her Team-leader as he led them farther in to Tani. Kakashi came to a stop in front of a small inn and looked to Sakura.

"We are going to stay here; this is the center of town."

She nodded quietly and followed him inside and waited while he acquired the rooms for the both of them. The not-Kakashi led the way down the hall toward the rooms. He pointed her toward a room and gave her the key.

"This is yours, mine is right across the hall." He motioned to the green door directly across from hers, the green paint was peeling off to show the fact that the door had once been painted white_. 'White would have been better' _she thought ruefully. "Ok, I'm going to take a shower and then we can decide what to do next."

The silver Jounin nodded. "I'll go get us something to eat."

Sakura entered her room, closing and locking the door before she tossed her bag on the bed. She quickly headed in to the tiny bathroom to shower. She dropped her henge as she turned the water on hot and disrobed, her eyes wandering over her face the henge faded and her scars reappeared. She gave a sad smile to herself in the mirror as she again thought about her lost comrade_. 'This is the first mission for team-seven without Sai'. _She thought about her artistic commrade as she the way she prefered, a small smile on his face as he waved a greeting at her from across the training grounds_. _Her mind contrasted the happy image to the scene at the campsite. His torn and bloodied clothing, the postioning of his arm and leg under his body. She inhaled deeply and shook her head to free herself of the self destructive thoughts threatening to overtake her as she stepped into the steaming hot water. The stood under the water letting it run over her body and wash away the toil and grime from the week of travel. A few warm tears spilling down her face hidden in the water so no-one would ever see.

After she had collected her self emotionally and she was pleased with her efforts to scrub her skin and hair clean she exited the shower and dried. She moved in to bedroom and pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, brushing her still slightly damp hands off on the front of her pants. The motion reminded her of the night before, when she had been sitting with Kakashi, he had pulled her so close and whispered in her ear. Blood rushed to her face at the memories. _'Get a grip on yourself ….your making something out of nothing." _Too late. Her mind ran away with itself, thinking about way his arms snaked around her, the sound of his voice in her ear. Her brain, much to her protest added new extended versions of the memories_.' What if he had brushed her hair away from her neck and slowly lowered his mouth -' _

A knock at the door caused her to scrunch her face up and clench her jaw as she mentally counted to twenty trying to get control back over her insurgent thoughts.

The silver Jounin had already showered, retrieved food and returned before he heard the water shut off in the room across the hall that his brave little medic occupied. He laughed lightly as he made his way to knock on her door. _'She would stand in the shower for the whole mission if she could….' _He caught his thoughts as they drifted down the path of iniquity and tried to stop them. Too late. _'Sakura in the shower…the water running off her face, down the length of her lithe body, how she would look as she tilted her head back to rinse her hair under the water..' _He sighed deeply as he stood in the hall with his food and perverted thoughts for company.

Sakura made her way to the door and quickly threw up her henge as she opened it and let the not-kakashi in to her room. She let the henge drop back off as she closed the door, the smell of food filling the dingy little room as Kakashi set it down on the small table.

The Jounin turned to eye his medic questioningly. "You ok Sakura?"

"yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"Your face is really red, you shouldn't take such hot showers….."

The Pink-haired women suppressed the urge to cover her face in embarrassment as her face flushed brighter. "My water got really hot and I couldn't figure out how to make it any cooler." She lied as fast as she could. _'…Liar…the water doesn't have anything to do with it…you were day-dreaming about your team-leader.'_

She moved to sit down across from him at the tiny table and flicked her hand toward his not-face.

"take it off…I don't like it." She commanded as she removed her food from the bag, looking at him suspiciously.

"What..? What are you talking about Sakura?"

"The henge. Take it off…"

"ooh Ok." He shrugged his shoulders and released the jutsu. Soon back to his normal appearance. "All better. I didn't realize you were so attached to my face."

"Pfft…" she rolled her eyes as she began looking down, picking over her food. "It just makes me feel like I'm talking to a stranger when you walk around with that on. It's weird."

"mmm k Sakura" he mumbled past the food in his mouth.

'_ugh gross he's talking with his food in his mouth' _A spark of realization zipped across her consciousness._ '….he's eating in front of me.?..'_ Her eyes snapped up swiftly as she got her first un-marred look at Kakashi's face. His lop-sided smile greeted her from around the chopsticks between his lips as he watched her mouth fall open in shock.

"Kakashi!" she scolded him as a blush began rising to her cheeks for no apparent reason. _'ohh my gods stop blushing all the time!' _It was was even better then she remembered. She sat staring at his face as he looked back at her. She mentally traced at the bottom half of the scar that ran from under his hitai-ate and then down to the long thin scar on his had a light stubble on his defined jaw line she noticed. He was no pretty boy he was definitily a man. Yes He was a very attractive man, and this recognition was un-nerving for her.

"What Sakura? I told you I would show you my face when we got to Tani.." He laughed and piled another mouth full of food into his mouth, as the woman before him turned the same shade of pink as her hair.

The copy-ninja couldn't figure out why he had decided to show Sakura his face. Maybe it was just the fact that she only got to see it when she was in the hospital paying for his failure. Maybe he was just too hungry and didn't feel like resorting to stealth tactics to eat his food. Maybe he just didn't care if she saw it anymore.

He ardently refused to admit that he just wanted to see if she approved or not, he was Kakashi Hatake the copy-ninja from Konoha, he didn't' need anyone to like his face. Regardless of the reasoning behind him un-masking himself he was happy with the reaction. He shook his head laughing slightly as she began leaning over the small table to watch him eat.

"Eat your food Sakura…" He used his chopsticks to slide her bowl closer to her side of the table. "We have to go out tonight and ask around to see if we can get any leads."

"Show me the whole thing first…"

"whaaa?"

He glanced up to his teammate as she reached across the table toward the headband that was covering his eye. His exposed eye watched her movements as she hesitated before she ran her finger under the Hitai-ate and pulled it down toward his neck. Her finger brushed against his forehead, nose and chin softly before the headband dropped off his face and she pulled her hand back from him.

The pink-haired medic stayed in her position leaning over the table as she took in the full effect of the Copy-ninja's face. She burned it into her memory. The image of him leaning forward, chopsticks halfway to his mouth as his eyes met hers across the small table in the shabby run down hotel.

Kakashi could hear his heart in his chest began speeding up as he watched Sakura. She stayed frozen in place leaning against the table toward him. His mind was waging war with his logic as he reached up and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. His fingers hovered on the side of her face, he wanted to pull her into him and… _'And then what…kiss her? And after that what would you do…? Get a hold of yourself. You're on a mission.'_

Sakura sat back abruptly in her chair almost as if she had heard his thoughts; an awkward tension had filled the small room as they both finished their meal silently. The medic's mind was rationalizing her attraction to her Team-leader, brushing it off and labeling it. She was just fascinated by something new, like a child with a new toy, plus she hadn't spoken or even really seen him in almost a month. She told herself her body's reaction was normal, she had been single for over a year now. _' Sure, Kakashi is attractive...but so is Naruto, so are most of the Shinobi in Konoha. It's just new and you missed him..You have known him forever..this is nothing else.'_

As they removed the remains of their food from the table and threw it away the silver Jounin broke the long silence. His voice brought Sakura around to stare once again at his face as he spoke.

"I'll come get you in a few hours. We are just going to go out and ask around at a few of the local bars for our guys." He motion toward her clothing. "Civilian clothing is fine, but nothing eye-catching. Hide your weapons."

"Ok I'll be ready."

Kakashi nodded and gave her a small wave over his shoulder before returning to his room.

"I need to get my head on straight." He mumbled to himself as he tossed his bag off the bed. He removed his shoes and pulled off his vest, shirt and mask and moved to lie down on the bed exhaling loudly. He pulled out Icha Icha from his back pocket and began reading, distracting himself from the awareness that things we're starting to get a little strange with his team-mate and wondering when exactly this had started happing.

They had been very close before the mission with Sai. Actually the only time they had ever had any real issues had been this last month after the failed mission. After Sasuke was brought back he spent time with her almost every day even if only for an hour or so training. Several of his friends had made passing remarks about his affinity for his pink haired medic. Of course only Genma had been bold enough to outright ask him if he was interested in Sakura romantically.

He had quickly answered no, explaining that they were just teammates and friends. Genma brushed it off and continued to berate and lecture Kakashi for several minutes on the importance of not getting involved with subordinates. Genma reminded him how much trouble he would be in if they were caught and how he could be stripped of his rank, how Sakura could be punished. How many ways Tsunade would kill him. How pissed off Naruto would be. The copy-nin had to threaten the man with sticking his beloved senbon in a very painful place, before Genma would back off and leave it alone.

* * *

"Seriously?!" Sakura sneered as she checked the clock beside the bed again. It was almost Ten o'clock and she hadn't heard a word from Kakashi. She quickly threw her henge on and traipsed across the hall to knock on his door. She waited a few moments before she knocked more forcefully.

The Jounin sprang out of his bed and looked at the clock, wincing inwardly._ '...Nice one Hatake..'_ He grabbed a plain white shirt out of his bag before walking over to the door and standing behind it to let his teammate in before he closed it behind her.

She took one look at the condition of her team-leader and knew exactly what happened. His hair was tousled and plastered to the side of his face; he had on no shirt except the one that was draped across his shoulder. His well defined chest and abs caused her stomach to clench tightly as she reminded herself; it was nothing she hadn't seen before. He had his sharingan closed and the other eye only cracked open slightly to ward off the brightness of the room. She forced her eyes off the groggy ninja to look toward the bed; a bright orange book lay guilty-as-charged cross the blankets.

"Kakashi, you have pillow imprints on your face…you fell asleep reading Icha Icha again didn't you?"

"hnnnn" He grunted in her direction as he drug his feet across the gritty floor toward his bag. He reached down for his mask and pulled it on along with the white shirt. Then he crouched down to retrieve the various weapons to hide to hide among his clothing.

"Where are we going? Sakura prompted as he sat back on the bed to pull on his shoes.

"I know a some over the local places where we will start out tonight; see if there is anything going on around here out of the ordinary." He pulled on his shoes and yanked the headband down over his eye, before turning his gaze to Sakura.

She was dressed appropriately for the night's events. She had on pair of jeans and a regular red tank-top underneath a dark gray jacket. The jacket he was sure was decked out with hidden pockets full of kunai, shurikan and poisons. Her hitai-ate kept most of her hair pulled back out of her face.

He grabbed his black hoodie and zipped it up before escorting her out of the hotel and into the dark night of Tani. The sound of water could be heard everywhere rushing, dripping and splashing as they made their way down the dimly lit streets. They jumped from bar to bar, to question the obtuse patrons about the not-actually-missing-missing-nin, all the while trying to glean a hint at anything strange happening in Tani or in River country at all.

It was well past mid-night before the duo had any luck on any sort of lead at all. They entered a small establishment called 'The Sinking Dragon' that look a tiny bit cleaner than the others. Sakura had approached the bar and ordered herself a drink feeling weary after the day of travel and the night of endless and fruitless questions. Kakashi had excused himself to the back to use the bathroom and left her sitting up at the bar alone.

The bartender hovered around her for a minute making small talk, while she slid the pictures of Izumo and Kotesu to him, asking him if he had seen them lately. He nodded an apologetic 'no' before moving off to serve another client. As soon as the lanky bartender moved away a beast of a man dropped himself down beside her quietly.

"You a kunoichi?" He voice was a deep, scratchy baritone that rumbled along like thunder.

Sakura turned in the barstool to face him, forcing chakra to her hands incase this man decided to be a threat.

"Yes." She answered him slowly, as she turned to face him, pointing to the leaf insignia on her hitai-ate so he would know where she was from. He had a thick neck and a strong scruffy jaw. She really didn't' want to have to send him flying through the wall; he would leave an enormous hole.

"You lookin' for somebody?"

"Yes."

"I know somebody."

"Should I know him too?"

"You should..."

Kakashi had a moment of panic when he came out of the back room and saw not-Sakura being dwarfed by the giant sitting next to her. He moved along the back of the bar silently, ready to assist her should she need it. As he watched the quiet exchange between the two he stopped. The huge man didn't seem to be a threat instead he seemed to be sharing information, which was confirmed as he watched his comrade smoothly slip a few coins into the big man's hand. He smiled slightly at his medic; she could be discreet if she needed to be. Though being discreet was not something that came naturally to Sakura at all, her short fuse coupled with her huge power led all too often to outbursts much like her Shishou. Right now though, Sakura was a smooth as any shinobi could be. She was keeping her posture calm and non-assertive and her voice down, so she didn't spook her quarry. She had offered the coin as she sensed the mans hesitation, placing them in his hand silently and with-out comment. She exuded a coolness that let the big man know she was in no hurry and he could take his time.

The medic waited silently after she had slipped the man the money he had been hoping for.

"His name is Kobiyashi, He's a big name in town owns a fancy Tea-house on the west side of town called 'The Jade Badger' and he owns a sorta ...like night club called 'Swift River' up over by the waterfalls. You can find him at 'The Jade Badger' most mornings. He's got a thing for Shinobi, so I'm sure he'll talk to you."

Sakura nodded to her giant informant.

"Thanks... What did you say your name was?"

" I didn't…"

She shrugged in understanding and stood, catching Kakashi's observant eye she moved out of the bar on to the street.

The copy-ninja was quick to follow and moved swiftly to his medic's side, putting a hand absently on the small of her back as he did so. "What did he say?"

Sakura turned and began moving back up the street toward the hotel. Her mind tried to focus on her story and not on the strong hand at her back. She began quietly retelling her team-leader the information she was passed.

"I mean he could have just been lying to get some money..." she offered unsurely as she finished going over everything.

He shrugged at her words. "True, but it's the only lead we got tonight. We'll go check it out in the morning."

The two entered the hotel in silence, the man behind the desk giving them a suspicious glance as they moved past him down the hall to their rooms.

Kakashi waited silently as she un-locked her door and moved inside the room leaving it open. Obviously she was not done speaking with him. He followed her in and closed the door dropping his henge. He was somewhat reluctant to be in the room with her so late at night after the odd moments between them over the past few days. _'... you've been alone in with her plenty of times...this is no different._' His attempt to bolster his nerves did not work as he cast a wary glance toward the bed. The bed stayed stoically silent and did not respond.

Sakura dropped her henge also. She turned back to watch Kakashi as he glanced at the bed strangely.

"I just was wondering if you think I should go in to the tea-house alone tomorrow to talk to Kobiyashi? I mean, do you think it would be better that way? That is one of the reasons I'm here to get information, from people that would rather give it to me..." She watched for his reaction as she let the words fall from her mouth. Tsunade had sent her here for that reason, she wouldn't back out if it was what she needed to do. Plus it was her that got approached at the bar with the intel, that could also be a sign she should go alone.

The copy-ninja looked at her silently for a beat. "ahhh..No…I will go with you. The man at the bar said he had a thing for Shinobi. He didn't specify women, and I don't want you going in there with no back-up."

"Ok.. if you think it's better your way…" Her words were short and snappy. Her expression was irritated, she was annoyed. He dismissed her option so quickly. She was damn well capable of holding her own, she didn't need a baby-sitter. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear as she walked by him briskly to open the door.

He grabbed her elbow lightly as she brushed past him, pulling her around to him. Her face knotted in confusion and annoyance as she stared at his hand on her arm.

"What Kakashi…What are you—"

"Sakura look at me…" He tugged his mask down quickly exposing his face to her " I can't let anything happen to you again…I just can't do it..so yes I think it's better my way. Don't fight me on this please…"

She stared up at the exasperated look on copy-ninjas face and her breath caught in her chest. "ok…" her voice sounded tiny in her own ears as her eyes roved over his features.

Kakashi remained silent. He didn't quite believe her when she agree so quickly with him. He searched over her face for any type of insincerity and couldn't find it.

'_Stop..don't do it..don't..'_

She couldn't stop though as she continued to let her eyes sweep over his face, his features still twisted with frustration at her pervious belligerence. She slowly reached her hand up, letting her thumb trace lightly over the top half of the scar that sat just about his mouth. Not quiet having enough confidence to trace the full length that cut through his lips, down to his chin. But she wanted to, so bad.

"Where did you get this?" Her voice was just above a whisper trembling lightly. The blood was pounding in her ears and she wondered if she would even be able to hear his answer.

Kakashi took in a ragged breath as her small finger traced over his scar coming so close to his mouth. He let his opened eye fall down her face and to the rest of her body. The way her hair moved lightly under the wind of the fan overhead. The scars by her eye, the quick rising of her chest as her breathing became faster. The small amount of pale skin he could see between the red fabric of her shirt and the top of her pants. He pulled his eye back up to her face as he slowly processed her question.

"In the war when I was younger... there was not enough medics in the field …" His voice sounded dark and husky as he responded to her question. His breathing becoming shallow as he watched her lips.

"I'm sorry…"

He nodded slowly and force himself to look away from her, to release his grip on her arm. "It's ok it was a long time ago. You should go to sleep now…"

"Kakashi…." She whispered hesitantly unsure of what to say to him.

"..Just go to sleep Sakura.."

She stepped away from him trying to regain her composure as he walked past her and out the door to his own room.

The copy-ninja paced back and forth at the foot of his bed once he returned to his own room.

_' Yes you want to keep her safe, she is your team-mate and after what happened to her it no surprise you feel...strongly_ ..yes s_he is a very pretty women, but she always has been. She is one of your best friends and you have known her a long time... so there are a lot of emotions there ... but you do not feel anything else...'_

* * *

**A/N**

**Also the name of the Tea-House..'The Jade Badger' I got it from this an old school Kung fu movie called 'The Jade Dagger ninja' probably the worse dubbing you will ever see... You can utube it...its awesome lol... Don't judge me I can't help what me and my friends end up watching sometimes late at night..**

**what is this like my ...7th chap? soooo ****SHOUT OUT TO MY HOMIES!**

******Inume-Blue, Kashi, Jen, Roxanne! Thanks for the multiple reviews you guys I really do appreciate it! You make me laugh and keep me motivated to torture you some more lol**

******And also Kashi-Cookie-Monster...You want some KakaxSaku action with out all my angsty feet dragging... her story Kunoichi College is right up your alley. She is a Smutosaurus "rawr"**

_******Thanks for reading I appreciate it.**_

_******/\_/|**_

_******Ninken**_


	8. The Jade Badger

**The Jade Badger**

* * *

The two Shinobi from Konoha walked silently side by side toward The tea-house they had been told about. The early morning sun was just piercing through the misty veil that shrouded most of the village. The farther out of the center of the city they went, the quieter it became. In the center of Tani, the markets were just opening, people shouting prices and offering bargains to everyone that passed by. Now that they were away from the market and the hub of the shops opening, the only noises they heard where the soft footsteps of their own feet.

Kakashi strolled along at a languid pace, his hands tucked deep into his pockets as he surveyed his surroundings. Neither he nor Sakura had broached the topic of the strange moments the day before, and that suited him just fine. He was already feeling exhausted from his lack of sleep, the not-Sakura beside him didn't seem to have fared any better.

The blonde not-sakura strode quietly next to the not-kakashi. She wondered if they were just going to pretend like last night didn't get a little wierd for both of them. She glanced over at him. _'yep...we are going to pretend…Looks like he already started...ok then..'_

She continued walking with him, taking in the extreme differences between this side of town and the area they had just come from. The rivers were still present everywhere, but they were smaller more pleasant to look at. The houses and shops were spaced farther apart and appeared less and less dilapidated the farther west they traveled. Houses began having yards and trees, shops were painted fresh and lively colors_. 'I want to stay on this side of town…'_

As they crossed over a small quaint little stone bridge Kakashi paused and turned to her.

"Ok, we are almost there I think. If the directions the guy at the hotel gave me were right. We will just ask him about Izumo and Kotetsu and see how it goes from there."

"Ok…This side of town is really nice" she stated as she stared at a nice little shop that had a display of very pretty dresses in the window. She pursed her lips as she willed the shop owner to come out and just give her a dress for being such an honorable kunoichi, who had forsaken her fashion for the safety and protection of others. Unfortunately her telepathic abilities were failing her that morning. _'ugh… I want a fancy dress…'_

Kakashi smothered a smile as he watched his medic glare at the dresses in the shop window. "This is the higher end side of town; the people who live here are the aristocracy of Tani, the bankers, merchant owners, people who own the fishing vessels and stuff. They live here while the workers live closer to the big rivers and the markets."

"hnn" she grunted in comprehension. "The rich people…"

"Yep, rich people"

She followed him as he turned right and sauntered down the road till they came to a large building, much larger than any tea-house had a right too. It looked more like a small mansion than anything. The entrance was between a large stone wall that was covered with climbing roses and ivy. The vast yard was littered with tables and chairs that were positioned near the large trees and hedges that decorated the landscape. The paved stone walkway up to the entrance of the building was well manicured and edged.

Sakura looked down at her Konoha shinobi attire and wondered briefly if they were going to get tossed out on looks alone, she absently wiped at her vest and brushed a hand through her hair. _'..Like that's going to help…'_

Kakashi smirked slightly as he watched Sakura try to fix her appearance. "..Well..let's go see what we can see …"

The not-Kakashi led the way down the long path, both of the ninja drawing curious looks from the few well dressed patrons that sat quietly sipping tea and enjoying the morning on the expansive lawn. A well dressed waiter stopped them as they walked up the steps to the entrance. He spoke nervously glancing at them as if they were rabid dogs that had come to maul everyone there.

"Welcome to the Jade badger…umm…may I help you two…"He looked at their clothing. "…fine people this morning?

_'Fine people..?' _Sakura narrowed her eyes at the waiter, which caused him to flinch away from her. He flicked his gaze to Kakashi, who seemed to be the less aggressive of the two.

The not-Kakashi gave an eye-crinkled smile that seemed to put the fumbling waiter more at ease. "Yes, thank you. We were coming to see if we might be able to speak with Kobiyashi-San?"

"I apologize Sir, but Kobiyashi-San is an incredibly busy man. I can take your name if you like and someone can contact you with a time he will have available."

"No...That's not going to work for us I'm afraid, we really must see him this morning. Is he here or maybe you can just point him out for us?" The copy-ninja absently ran a hand through his hair as the waiter blinked at him stupidly, obviously he was not accustomed to his usual line being dismissed so easily.

"umm..I can't…"

"Oh sure you can…" The light threat filtered down on the anxious waiter as he glanced between the two Ninja. The masked man and the snarling blonde women, both of them were out-of-place and beginning to draw the attention of the esteemed guests in the yard. He shifted nervously under their gazes.

"I….He's very busy…"

"We don't want to cause any trouble, but we are very busy too." Kakashi glanced over at the blonde women beside him. "Show him how busy we are…" he turned back to the waiter with a small smile. _'..and now we see how fast the deer will run when it sees the lions claws…'_

Sakura nodded happily, pleased with the way the waiter pulled away from her as she reached up to the tray he carried and grabbed a small spoon off of it. She let her chakra flow down to her fingers as she bent the spoon in with her thumb and index finger. "We are very busy…and we don't want to cause trouble." she said sweetly as she smiled.

The waiter's eyes went wide as she placed the bent spoon back on his tray and he looked up at the two ninja meekly. "Ok…if you two will just take a seat. I will see what I can do for you. Would you like something to drink?"

_'Run away little deer..run fast…'_ Kakashi turned and walked to a nearby table, sitting down as Sakura did the same."No, thank you we will just sit right here and wait."

The waiter bowed timidly before scurrying off toward the back of the establishment with his tray.

* * *

After about twenty minutes of waiting Sakura patience was almost up. _'What is taking so long…?.'_ She stood up abruptly, ready to barge after the waiter when Kakashi laid a steady hand on her shoulder.

"Calm down, we need to be tactful here. I can't have you exploding and blowing our cover and look…" He nodded toward the opposite side of the house where a tall dark-haired man was striding purposefully toward them. "I think that's for us..."

The tall man walked up to them and ran his eyes over the pair of ninja before him. He was well-groomed, tall and muscular. He spoke politely but had an air of aggression to him that was un-mistakable. "I am Akino. You asked to speak with Kobiyashi-San?"

"Yes we did." Kakashi muttered as he stood to face the dark-haired questioner.

"May I inquire as to why?"

"You may…"The copy-ninja deadpanned enjoying the way the man's eyes narrowed slightly.

Akino closed his eyes in frustration. The masked man was really getting under his skin. He opened his eyes back up to look at the not-kakashi, his voice dripped with forced courtesy. "Why do you want to see Kobiyashi-San?"

Kakashi smiled lightly. "We would prefer to tell that to Kobiyashi-San." He knew full well this man was sent to retrieve them and take them to Kobiyashi. If his job was to tell them to leave it would have been the first thing out of his mouth. This Akino man was just being nosey.

The dark-haired man took in a deep impatient breath and switched his gaze over to Sakura as she stepped up in front of Kakashi.

_'Really Kakashi? He might not be Kobiyashi-San but, we shouldn't burn any of the bridges we find..just because you want to be a jerk'._

She was accustom, after years of working with Team-seven and in the hospital with all the stoic_ 'I-know-that's-my-guts-in-my-hands-but-it-doesn't-really-hurt'_ ninja, to know a display of machismo when she saw one. Kakashi's displays of masculinity were subtle and very annoying to the right people. Akino, seemed to be the right people for Kakashi's method. So she decided to seize the chance and divert the attention off of the indolent copy-ninja and on to herself.

She smiled brightly at Akino, placing a hand softly on his forearm. "Akino-San, I'm sorry for my comrade. He can be a lot to deal with sometimes, I know from experience. We really must speak with Kobiyashi-San, and we are only to speak with him. We do not mean to be rude."

It was Kakashi's turn to narrow his eyes as he watched her touch the man's arm_. '…I'm a lot to deal with? Has she ever met herself?'_

Akino glanced down at the smiling women and gave her a small smile back instantly forgetting his irritation with her partner. "Of course ma'am I will show you the way. You seem to be well-meaning and Kobiyashi-San does enjoy speaking with Shinobi." He offered his arm which Sakura quickly took as she glanced over her shoulder toward a perturbed looking Copy-ninja, nodding for him to follow.

Kakashi stared after his medic as she walked off on the arm of the smug man-servant and scoffed at her back. _'He was going to take us there anyways; you didn't have to throw yourself at him._' He followed behind the two, rolling his eyes at himself. _'..and if I hadn't been such an ass, she wouldn't have jumped on his arm..'_

* * *

Akino lead them around toward the back and as they passed through an archway Sakura's mouth fell open. She was in one of the most beautiful gardens she had ever seen. As her chauffer motioned to a small table for Kakashi and herself to sit at she took in the surroundings.

There was a large Zen garden raked with soft curving lines, a tiny creek ran in looping circles randomly through the sand, babbling pleasantly. Large hedges surrounded the area giving it a very secluded feeling, as if they were miles from civilization, instead of just being on the backside of a very elaborate tea-house. A willow tree sprouted from the ground on the far side of the square area, its long branches hanging down toward the ground. Her eyes dropped to an odd shape toward the right of the tree. _'What is that…?'_

Akino stood in her line of sight blocking her from understanding what she had been looking at. "I will tell Kobiyashi-San you are here."

As the tall man moved toward the object under the tree comprehension filled her, from the strange choked noise Kakashi made, she knew he had figured it out too.

"..That's not what I expected…"

"..No me either..." she agreed quietly.

Kobiyashi-San, wealthy aristocrat, enterprising investor and shrewd business man stood before them in all his glory. He was wearing a pair of loose white cotton shorts that scarcely came to just above mid-thigh and nothing else. He was a mid-aged man, his hair light brown and beginning to gray on the sides. He was not at all obese but still a bit flabby around the mid section. His skin was incredibly tanned, and Sakura mused that he must be out here every morning doing this routine, or whatever you would call it.

Kakashi looked at the man and turned to Sakura. "What is he doing?"

Sakura opened her mouth to answer but nothing came to mind. The owner of The Jade Badger was folded in half, hands and feet on the ground as he pushed his rear-end up high in the air, then he flattening himself out and slowly lowered his self to the ground before pushing his upper body up as he gazed toward the sky. He continued moving through these different poses for a few minutes, sweat dripping down his body as he did so.

Akino had stood by patiently waiting for his master to finish before he moved over to him, handed him a towel and muttered a few words in his ear while pointed to Sakura and Kakashi.

Kobiyashi gazed over at the pair of Ninja in his garden for a long moment. He wiped his face off on the towel and picked up a pale yellow short-sleeved button up shirt off the ground and put it on, opting out of buttoning it up. He turned and motioned toward the large house and Akino bowed slowly before retreating in the direction he was pointed in.

The sweaty man made his way over to the not-Sakura and the not-Kakashi eyeing them both before smiling brightly. Sakura's eyes immediately fell to all the hair on his chest that was plastered down with sweat. His stomach slightly bulged over the top of his too short shorts. _'..Button your shirt…'_ Her telepathy still hadn't kicked in; he stayed shirtless, sweaty and hairy.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. I must do my morning exercises; it's very invigorating, getting your heart going so early in the morning."

As soon as the man spoke Sakura knew one thing for sure. She would have had no luck coming here on her own, Kakashi on the other hand may have done a deal better alone with this man.

"I am Karu Kobiyashi, and who are you two adventurous Shinobi?"

"I am Saito Nagasawa and this is Asami Kusakabe." Kakashi stood and gave a small bow as he motioned to himself and not-Sakura.

Sakura stood as well bowing politely. "I is a pleasure to meet you Kobiyashi-San"

"ooh so well-mannered. How exciting…and what can I do for you two this morning?"

Kakashi mildly wondered what exactly was _'so exciting'_ but kept it to himself as he answered. "We are looking for two missing-ninja from our village. We were told that you knew a lot of people, maybe you have heard something about some strange ninja around town."

Kobiyashi clapped his hands together with a devious smile. "I have. Just this morning!"

Sakura and Kakashi look expectantly toward the man. He walked up closely to Kakashi and poked his firm chest with an index finger. The copy-ninja gave the finger poking him in a chest a concerned look_. 'Why did he have to touch me..?'_

"You and her" he motioned his hand toward Sakura, but kept his eyes on Kakashi.

The medic gave an awkward chuckle un-sure of what to do with the eccentric mans words. "Kobiyashi-San. Has there been anyone else?"

The man stepped away from Kakashi and looked at Sakura scrutinizing her thoroughly, before he reached in his pocket and pulled out the spoon she bent earlier. "Akino told me you bent this with your bare hands….is that true?"

_'so much for getting a straight answer from this guy'_ Sakura looked toward the spoon and nodded. "Yes, I'm sorry about that. We really needed to see you."

He flicked his wrist dismissively. " I don't care about the spoon…could you do it again?" He held the spoon in front of her nose. She took it calmly ran the chakra to her fingers again and bent it back the other way. The mostly shirtless man smiled vibrantly at her display of strength. "So talented.."

Kakashi cleared his throat to gain their attention. "Um…sorry to be rude Kobiyashi-San—"

"..ahh yes, but sadly un-intentional rudeness is still considered rudeness…"

The copy-ninja held the other mans gaze, trying to decide what to say. He clicked his tongue on roof of his mouth and decided to say nothing. They couldn't afford to offend this man and he did seem to be hiding something underneath his flamboyant façade. You didn't get to be the rich investor of several prestigious establishments by being a twittering moron.

Kobiyashi abandoned Sakura with her spoon in hand and moved back to Kakashi, reaching up to grab at his mask. The man obviously had no shame. Kakashi leaned away and grabbed his hand quickly and held it still.

Kobiyashi unconcerned, turned toward Sakura. "Does he always wear this mask?"

She nodded to Kobiyashi. "Most of the time he wears it. Only a few people have seem him without it on"

_'Serves him right for not letting me come here alone.' _she reflected smugly as Kakashi struggled to maintain an emotionless countenance as Kobiyashi's fingers continued to stretch toward his face resolutely, even though his hand was being held still.

Kakashi glanced to Sakura for help and noted the pleased look on her face. _'She thinks this is hilarious'_

The copy-ninja released the hold he had on the other man's hand as he gave up and began to pull it away. Only to have his personal space invaded once more as the rich man stepped up and peered closely at his face causing the sharingan-user to lean back again. " How mysterious..." Kobiyashi mused aloud.

Kakashi could feel the heat radiating off the mans body, he could smell the odor of the salty sweat mixed with some type of cologne.

_'…way…way to close...'_

The scantily clad man peered deeply into Kakashi's exposed eye, with what the copy-ninja could only guess was an attempt at seduction. "Why do you wear the mask...and what happened to your other eye?" his voice was just above a whisper.

Kakashi sighed deeply and stepped away from the invader, refusing to acknowledge the question.

"Kobeyashi- San-"Sakura called him lightly_. 'It's like trying to keep the attention of a fly, how did this man ever build businesses?'_

"…call me Karu…" He frowned at Kakashi and turned to Sakura. "..he's very shy huh?" He shook his head and dismissed Kakashi with a wave of his hand. "Let's go inside. I would love to sit down and talk with you, but I need to shower first. I've asked Akino get the cooks to prepare us a light breakfast. Will you join me?"

Sakura smiled at him warmly, her stomach growling at the mention of breakfast. "We would love to, Karu."

Kakashi watched as the fluttering rich man reached for Sakura's arm and paraded her toward the house. He noted briefly that this was the second time in the last hour his little medic had gone marching off in front of him with another man. A pang of annoyance sounded in his chest.

* * *

The duo was deposited on a small balcony the over looked the yard they had just come from. They sat together gazing out over the yard silently. The copy-ninja sat, smashing down the irrational urge to take her hand in his. He wanted to perform some sort of territorial display that would stop some other man from walking up and taking her by the arm and marching off with her again. _'…stop thinking like that...'_

Not-Sakura glanced over toward him with a small smile, her words quiet incase anyone was listening in on them. "How did you like Kobiyashi-San?" her small smile began a huge grin as she watched Kakashi shake his head in annoyance, refusing to banter with her. "Well I think he likes you…"

They were interrupted by the door behind them opening, a now fully dressed Karu Kobiyashi was beckoning them with a quick snapping of his fingers. "Come! Walk with me!"

Kakashi looked over at the snapping man an inhaled deeply. _'This is going to be a long..long..morning'. _Sakura on the other hand grinned; she rather enjoyed this rich man's eccentric personality.

Kobiyashi had dressed himself in a pair of black slacks and a long-sleeved sea-foam green shirt and dress shoes. He's graying hair had been combed to perfection and he smelled of a strong expensive cologne. As he led his two guests down the long hallway he began speaking. "So my two little leaf lovelies…you were telling me before, that you are tracking some missing-ninja from your village?"

"Yes, Karu-san" the medic answered swiftly, happy to be back on topic.

"ah ah ah…Just Karu…"He shook his finger at her like she was a small child. "And these two shinobi of your's, what are their names?"

"Izumo and Kotetsu, they were reported here recently. Have you heard anything about anything..?"

Kakashi stayed quietly at Sakura's right side, using her as a barrier between himself and the Kobiyashi man. He had decided to let his little medic take the lead on this, since their target seemed incredibly distracted by him.

"hmm I may have heard a few things but-Stop! We are crossing!." "Karu threw his hands out in front of him to stop a startled maid in her tracks. She was about to unintentionally cross in front of the trio from an intersection hallway. He spared the main no parting glance as he blew past her.

Sakura and Kakashi eyed each other questioningly and gave the women a small glance as they walked by, she had quickly went back to work, undaunted. Apparently that happened a lot around here.

"..anyways…as I was saying. I have a few things I would like to get out of the way before we begin our little meeting."

"What sort of things?" Kakashi's wariness forced him to speak up and draw attention to himself_._

"Ooo he speaks!" Karu turned around to look at the not-Kakashi. "Don't worry, Nothing that will hurt too much." he gave a small wink and a laugh before turning to lead them up a stairway.

Sakura fell in beside Kakashi as they ascended up the stairs, giving him a reassuring smile and a gentle touch on his arm. She had the strange urge to loop her arm in his, but that would be entirely unprofessional. Still, the urge was there and the thought made her pulse quicken slightly.

The copy-ninja reached out and ruffled Sakura's hair lightly as she smiled at him, his aggravation with Kobiyashi's vague answer melting away.

* * *

Kobiyashi opened the door for them that led into a decent sized room. It was furnished with a single dark wooden desk that was positioned toward the back of the room. A large leather armchair with two smaller chairs surrounded a small round table off to the right under a large window. The table had a few plates of fine china filled with delicious looking food. Sakura and Kakashi entered the room, both noting Akino sitting quietly in one of the smaller chairs. They turned as Kobiyashi clicked the doors closed and gave them a coy smile.

"I have to admit that we have not been completely honest with you two, but... no more than you both could claim though"

The two leaf ninja tensed instantly feeling a change in Kobiyashi's demeanor. Kakashi moved to step closer to Sakura as she turned to face Akino behind them.

Kobiyashi laughed loudly. "How admirable, but completely unnecessary… we are not going to attack you." He motioned to Akino who stood up and bowed to the three new comers. "You have already met Akino, well let me tell you he too is a Shinobi like you, and he has a wonderful talent."

Sakura and Kakashi both looked at Akino quietly, both still tense and ready. They had sensed no trace of chakra on the man before, but now looking at him they could both tell it was no lie.

Kobiyashi walked past the two nervous ninja over toward the dark-haired man and then turned to look back at them.

"Go ahead Akino, show them the thing you can do…" he smiled happily as Akino nodded.

Kakashi and Sakura both felt an enormous chakra pulse from the tall shinobi as he whipped through a few hands signs. The copy ninja reached for his Kunai and tried to leap out of the way of the wave of Chakra, but there was nowhere to go. The pulse emanated in a circular motion out from Akino and filled the room before quickly disappearing.

_'What happened…'_

He looked toward Sakura and then looked down at himself and knew instantly. Their henge's were gone. The both looked at each other digesting the fact that their cover had just been blown in Tani.

"Now now now…before you go do anything rash. Let's just talk this over." Kobiyashi patted Akino on the back lightly. "He is a great use to me; he has an unusual Kekkei-Genkai as you can see. He can detect even hidden chakra and disrupt most all genjustsu. It has kept me from being made a fool of several times."

Kakashi narrowed his eye at the aristocrat. "So you knew the whole time we were in a henge?"

"Yes. When Akino went to greet you, he knew immediately. Though he could not tell who you were, unfortunately that is not part of his abilities. I on the other hand have deduced who you are, I believe."

The pink-haired medic was very annoyed she moved herself close to her team-leader, her arm brushing against his. "Then why play games with us the whole time!?"

"You started it…." Kobiyashi pursed his lips and flicked his hands toward the Konoha ninja in a child-like display. "You showed up here…pretending to be someone else. How could I not play for a little?" He shrugged his shoulders as if that was the only logical conclusion.

Kakashi remained silent evaluation the options they had. _'We could kill them..no one has seen our real faces and we could just take up new Henge…I could use the Sharingan..but Akino may be able to disrupt that as well..or we could just leave Tani..that would mean a failed mission, another one.'_

Kobiyashi sauntered across the room up to the two calculating Shinobi and crossed his arms over his chest. "There are some things I would like to discuss with you two that I believe would interest you two."

"What sort of things?" Sakura inquired

"Things I would only feel comfortable discussing with….Hurano Sakura the Hokage's own apprentice and …Hatake Kakashi..The Copy-Ninja"

_'Shit.'_ the silver Jounin narrowed his exposed eye. "How did you know?"

The eccentric man gave a large sigh and rolled his eyes at them. "I have a few bingo books. I collect Shinobi things; I'm quite a fan to tell you the truth. I wanted to be a Shinobi so bad when I was young. Alas…I was meant for a different life. I still have a passion for Shinobi though."

He stood back and held his arms out to them as if putting them on display. "When two leaf Shinobi, show up at my place of business, demanding to talk to me. A one eyed masked man and his friend, a young women with enough chakra control to be able to send it to individual fingers and bend to tiny end of a tea-spoon... twice. Well, who else would you be?

The pink medic frowned down at her traitorous hands. _'Stupid' _

Karu smiled at the pink haired women as she looked at her hands and moved closer to her. "You are very beautiful women Sakura, It was a shame to be hiding this wonderful hair under that blonde henge. I much prefer you like this!" He turned to Akino who had stepped up behind him. "What do you think Akino?"

The dark-haired shinobi man let his eyes fall over the Pink-haired women slowly. "Yes this is much better.." He gave Sakura a very appraising smile.

Kakashi wanted to rip both of their heads off as they commented over his medic's appearance, especially Akino. He spent entirely too much time letting his eyes graze over her body, and he was still doing it. He clenched his fist at his side in irritation as he watched a small tint rise on his comrade's cheeks under the scrutiny of the man with the strange kekei-genkai.

"And don't worry.. I have forgotten you Kakashi!"

"I wasn't worried." he ground out between his teeth

Karu side-stepped past Akino, to make his way to the silver-jounin. "I have read about your exploits before. You are quiet the impressive man Kakashi, and much more handsome than any sketch I've ever seen in the bingo books. They never tell your height and muscle tone in the bingo books…it's very unfortunate and you have the strong silent type down."

Kakashi leaned away uncomfortably as his space was invaded once again that day. _'If Gai or Genma ever find out about this I will never hear the end of it…'_

"hmm.." The rich man turned on his heel and marched across the room to pour a drink and sit in the large armchair. He took a small sip before raising his eyebrows expectantly and beckoning them over.

Akino held his arm out toward the table a silent request that they move forward. Sakura stepped toward the chairs, Akino beside her laid his hand lightly on the middle of her back as he followed.

_'Three times today now..' _The copy-Ninja watched as Sakura's eyes darted toward her team-leader with hesitation as she was lead to the chairs. He looked up as he moved toward the others to see Kobiyashi staring at him. The business man winked at the copy-ninja and patted his knee, an invitation to come sit in his lap.

_'nope…..'_ He quickly lowered himself in to remaining seat beside Sakura. He wanted to grab her chair and yank it toward his to get her away from the lurking dark-haired shinobi that stood beside her.

The medic looked around the circle. Karu winking playfully at Kakashi, more to get him flustered then anything she believed. Her team-leader obstinately refused to aknowledge the unwanted advances. That was making him a most amusing victim for the predator that was Kobiyashi.

"Akino, you may leave now…"Kobiyashi nodded toward his own personal shinobi.

The tall kekkei-genkai user bowed deeply. "Sakura-san it was a pleasure to meet you. Hopefully we will be seeing more of each other." He righted himself and glanced toward the masked man with a sharp un friendly gaze. "Hatake-san..." He turned and strode out of the room shutting the door quietly.

"oo..I don't think he likes you very much." Karu added conspiratorialy. "Maybe because you get to spend so much time with Sakura…"

"She had been my team-mate for a long time…"he looked over and gave her a small eye-crinkling smile that sent her heart fluttering.

"My my…he can smile too, but not for me…"he gave a small laugh and pushed a tray of food toward them. "Please eat while I explain what I have noticed, because I'm sure you two are not here tracking down some no-body missing-ninja."

* * *

The trio sat together for a few hours. Kobiyashi explained how Akino had been approached by an unknown man several months ago and offered a large amount of money. The man said he knew someone who was paying a lot of money for Ninja with special abilities to come work for him.

He told them how there had been a lot of Ninja moving through River country and Tani. He had several instances with strange Shinobi causing trouble in his night club. They would stay for a few days in town and then disappear. He ran off the names of certain merchant shops that seemed to be growing rapidly with business, while others, some even more established had stalled dead in the water, and it was not just here.

Kobiyashi had business partners in Suna, Rain and Fire that were all experiencing similar disturbances throughout their cities.

As he finished detailing his observations he shook his head lightly in distressed. "I'm not sure what's happening. I'm high enough in anyone's book to be invited in or figure it out myself. Whatever it is, it's tied up with big money and big people. The best I can offer you two is this…." He stood and went to his desk to pull out a few pieces of paper. He wrote down a few details on the paper and walked over to hand it to them. It was a list of the merchant shops, including the home and office addresses of the owners.

"These merchants are very prominent and will not willingly let you see their books, but you two are high-class ninja. I'm sure a little thing like someone not wanting to not to do something, doesn't actually stop you. There may be something in their records that will help "

The Copy-ninja tucked the papers away in his vest already beginning to strategize the best way to go about collecting the information.

"Also, next week the Daimyo of Rain is going to be passing through with his son and a number of other people. The son has already sent word that he wants to use 'Swift River' one night when they are here, he always does. I will be going to oversee everything for them, they are very…"He searched for the correct word"… very..very rambunctious when they use the club." He wrinkled his nose is distaste as he recalled the memory of the last visit before brushing it off.

"Akino was approached last time the Rain Daimyo was in Tani. It was very close to our villages festival though, so I couldn't say for sure if that's where the offer came from. I can take you with me that night and you can try to see if you can get any information from someone with their party."

Kakashi stood and bowed to Kobiyashi in thanks. "Kobiyashi-San. You have really helped us a lot. You are very good at disguising who you really are."

Sakura stood also with a tiny bow. "Yes thank you so much Karu."

The older man smiled at them and dismissed their gratitude with a flick of his wrist. "No thank you both for trying to help. My father always told me when I was growing up to always seem less than you are and your enemies will always be taken by surprise. It's a great tactic in every aspect of life I think.

Kakashi nodded in understanding. "Your father was a smart man, thank you again."

Kobiyashi shook his head as stood to show them out." Kakashi…if you really want to thank me …I've got a few idea's that might do the trick…" He gave the copy-ninja sly smile.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I can help you with that…"The jounin smirked as he stood to leave, holding his hand out to Sakura before he even thought about it.

The pink-haired medic immediately took her team-leaders outstretched hand as she pulled herself up beside him. She dropped his hand as she moved past him toward the door and felt his fingers lightly drift across her side to settle gently on the small of her back as he followed. Only the sound of Kobiyashi clearing his throat gave them pause to turn around.

He stood behind them his eye trained on Kakashi's hand resting on the small of the medics back. "hmmm…how disappointing for Akino.."

Kakashis hand dropped away from Sakura in the blink of an eye and Sakura stepped away from the copy-nin just as fast.

"We are just team-mates Kobiyashi-San" Kakashi muttered threateningly, daring the man to doubt it.

"Oh Ok fabulous…Sakura, would you mind if I had Akino accompany us all to 'Swift River' next week then? "

The pink-haired women froze in her tracks. _'..what does he want me to date his body-guard?...'_ She refused to look at Kakashi; she could feel a blush debating whether it should show itself on her cheeks. She felt guilty and could find no appropriate reason for the guilt. There was an uncomfortable knot in her stomach and it seemed to stem from the silver-haired man at her side.

Kakashi stared at his silent pink-haired teammate as she deliberated her answer. A swelling of anger was growing in his chest the longer it took her to make a decision, which was only about six seconds so far. _'Really Sakura…what are you thinking?'_

"You can invite whoever you need to Karu. Kakashi and I are on a mission and that will be our focus that night." She glanced up toward the Jounin at her side to see him giving her his famous smile. His inappropriate rage at the thought of Akino being anywhere around her was swept away.

Karu laughed loudly at them. "Ok you two, whatever you say. I will need something from you both though. I'm sure you don't have anything suitable to wear to the club. And no-one will speak with you there if you don't look like you belong." Kakashi glanced at the man's sea-foam green shirt and recoiled.

"Don't you worry Kakashi, I will having something just right for you." He gave the copy-ninja a wink and reached forward to pinch him lightly on the arm. " you just wait.."

Sakura smothered a laugh at Kakashi's distress and quickly attempted to mask it as a cough as he eyed her suspiciously. She was smugly content with the face that she was maybe going to get that fancy dress after all.

Kobiyashi opened the door for the two Shinobi. "I will send word to you a few days before so we can discuss your reasons for being at the club with me and so on. See you two in a few days and good luck."

* * *

**A/N**

** Oh btw if you couldn't figure out what Karu was doing in the garden. It was different sequences of yoga sun-salutations. yeah imagine it...shocking.**

**I know there wasn't alot of kakaxsaku goodness in this chap, but I needed to get the plot rolling along. Its coming.**

**/\_/\**

**Ninken ears**


	9. Pocket sized secrets

**_Pocket sized secrets_**

* * *

Sakura frowned out at the squalid view she had from her second story hotel window. Since they first met Karu at the Jade Badger two days ago their attempts at gathering Intel had been fruitless; they had gotten no-where in their search for answers. They had already broken into all of the offices and look through the books_. 'Not one single thing out-of-order. Nothing.'_ The records where clean, the stores where clean, the employees where clean. All of it was very clean. _'Something is definitely up, nothing is ever that clean.' _That was a problem though; you can't accuse people of crimes because their hands were suspiciously un-dirty. They needed to find someone somewhere that had dirty hands.

The pink haired women turned from her depressing view of the Tani ghetto and trudged across the room as a timid knock was applied to her door. She quickly zipped on her Henge and reached for the door with an irritated sigh. "I told you just to come in stop knocking."

"uhhhh…excuse me ma'am I was told to give this to you." A slender looking young man held out an envelope to her, uncertainty clouding his face at the way she answered the door.

She squinted suspiciously at the boy before her; she had been expecting a Konoha Jounin just returned from his Ninken. "Who is it from?"

Across the hall the dirty looking not-Kakashi opened his door, peering down at the youth and the envelope he proffered to the not-Sakura. "What's that?" he asked warily.

Sakura shrugged and eyed the boy crossing her hands over her chest as her team-leader did the same.

The boy shrunk visibly under the harsh looks of the two shinobi. "It's uhhh..It's from Kobiyashi-san. I don't know…" he shrugged in obvious discomfort. "I work at the Tea-house, someone asked me to bring this here and-"

"Thank you." Kakashi snatched the envelope out of the boy's hand and sized him up with a long look. "Did he pay you to bring this all the way down here?"

The boy shook his head quickly. "No sir…just told me to bring it." A hopeful look sparked in his eyes.

"Hard work often goes un-rewarded… a good thing to learn young." He patted the boy on the head with a smile and spun around back into his room leaving the boy and Sakura in the hallway alone.

The medic glared daggers at Kakashi's now closed-door before looking awkwardly at the disheartened young man. "Maybe they will give you something when you get back?" She shrugged; she didn't have any spare coin to give him. _'Stupid Kakashi…didn't even tell me he was back.'_

She didn't wait for the boy to leave instead she marched across the hall-way and slammed the Jounin's door open with a scowl. "Hey…that was mine…don't open it!" she stared disbelieving at the man who was tearing into the envelope.

"Close the door please…." He muttered distractedly.

She pushed the door closed sharply and stepped across the room to grab the letter out of his hand as they both released their henges. The silver-haired man pulled out of her reach as she tried to take the letter back from him. "Sakura, let me read it. We're sharing…"

"You can't share a letter…and I haven't even read it yet."She made another lunge for the letter furrowing her brow at him. He spun away and put his back to her as he unfolded the paper and began reading it quietly.

"I hate you…." She narrowed her eyes at his back as he ignored her completely_. 'Fine, we will do it the hard way…' _She waited a few seconds for her chakra to tingle it way down her hand before launching herself at her team-leader grabbing the back of his black shirt and trying to knock him into the wall a few feet away. Kakashi bent over quickly and slipped backwards out of the shirt, letter still in hand as he pointed an accusing finger at his pink-haired medic.

"Haruno-san, you're being very forward tonight. You'll need to buy me dinner before you get anything else off of me..."

She stared at the shirtless Jounin and her mouth fell open in annoyance as she looked down to the shirt in her hands and again back up to him. "Oh please. I buy you dinner all the time…they should call you Cheap-ninja instead of Copy-ninja." She added with a scoff.

She tried to keep her eyes from roaming over the tight planes of his chest and abdomen, unsuccessfully demanding that her eyes not trace the jagged scar that ran over his right hip and disappeared below his pants line_. 'Wonder where that goes…no no I don't..yes I do…I really do..but I shouldn't.'_

"So…you're demanding compensation for all the dinners, in the form of my clothing?" he mumbled as he ran his eyes over the paper.

The pink-haired women rolled her eyes at him as he spoke. "I've given up on the idea of compen-"

"Ok fair enough." He gave his eye crinkled smile and quickly pulled off his mask and tossed it to her, watching it as it dropped to the floor in front of her feet. "Are we even now or do you need more?" He smiled at her opened mouth stare, stepping toward her as he closed the gap between them; her face flushing hotly as he reached for his belt.

"No..what No..stop..are you crazy?! We're even. I don't want your clothes!"

"So we're even?"

"uh..yeah…?" She bit her lip allowing herself the small pleasure of adding his face and neck to the rest of his upper body. _'…really nice…'_

The silver-haired man smirked at his red-faced subordinate and shoved the letter in her hand, while reaching up to ruffle her hair. "Ok good. Now get out of my room. Kobiyashi-san wants to talk to us again and I need to shower."

Sakura's mouth dropped open once again in disbelief, glaring at the shirtless man. He had in a few seconds, read her letter, embaressed her shamelessly and gotten out of her debt for all the dinners he owed her. "Aghh...your such a jerk...and your smile is lop-sided."

Kakashi peered down at his little medic and grinned. "..and your face is really red…" he put a finger on her chin and lifted it closing her mouth for her. "..and your mouth is open…". He watched as her blush crept down her neck, his eye again following the delicate line of her collar-bone and lower to her chest, which was beginning to rise and fall rapidly under his scrutiny_. ' stop..stop..'_ He couldn't and it had been happening more and more often, he was beginning to add a certain pink-haired women to his fantasy world. He would catch himself and try to replace the image with someone else, a women from his past, a bomb-shell from icha-icha, anyone, anyone but her. But she always came back.

_Sakura falling in to his arms after he had just rescued her from a deadly villain. Coming home to find her cooking him dinner in nothing but an apron. Sakura fighting by his side and returning to his tent bloody and tired but unable to keep her hands off him. Sakura an enemy ninja tying him down and torturing him in the worst and best ways he could imagine. Sakura studying in Hokage tower in her little lab-coat and skirt, biting her pencil as he walked in the lab to retrieve a scroll from her. The fantasies were varied and vivid, but they all ended the same, and it was wrong._

The medic tried to slow her breathing as Kakashi's eyes hovered over her body. His long stare coupled with his state of undress was sending her stomach into a churning mess. She could smell him, he smelled like mud, sweat and dogs. Probably because he had just returned from checking in on all his ninken, but for some reason it made it all the better. He was usually so laid back and cool but now the taunt muscles in his stomach were clenched and she struggled to drag her eyes away and up to his face. His exposed eye watched her as she brought her gaze up to his. The uncomfortable heat in her stomach dropped lower and she shifted awkwardly as the tingling spread to between her legs. _'you're getting turned on by Kakashi…' _A devious part of her ached to ask him if he needed help in the shower, she clenched her hand tightly at the idea.

The paper in her hand crunched loudly as she squashed it, pulling her away from her dreams of showers, mud and silver-haired men.

"uhh…twenty minutes then…. to..so you can do ..umm…the shower..?" She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, stepping around him. If she couldn't see him, she wouldn't want him. "Oooo…kayy…I'm gunna..I'll see you in twenty minutes in front of the hotel.." She walked out of the room and into her own, willing her breathing and heartbeat to return to normal.

The copy-ninja stood in the middle of his own dingy room for a few minutes silently before turning toward the bathroom and the shower. He frowned slightly at the uncomfortable tightness in his pants.

"…a cold shower…and a brain scan."

* * *

An hour later Kakashi meandered out of the hotel, flicking Sakura on the back of the head as he strolled by earning him a heartfelt snarl. "I said twenty minutes.."

"I know I heard you..I didn't agree." Honestly it had taken him ten minutes just to get in the bathroom. Then he spent twenty under some of the coldest water he could find as he tried to convince himself that jerking off while thinking of your subordinate was not a road he wanted to take. He had won the battle this time, just barely. He shoved his hands in his pockets as they began to start the walk to the tea-house.

Sakura kept the easy pace next to the Copy-ninja, sneaking glances at his calm appearance, had that weird moment really happened. Didn't it seem like it kept happening? Was she really so desperate that she would start imagining things?

'_It is possible; I have been single for a while.'_

When they arrived at the Jade Badger they were met by a waiter who addressed them quickly and escorted them to the room where they had spoken with Kobiyashi last.

"I will go get Kobiyashi-san and Akino-san they will be here in a few minutes."

Kakashi nodded along with Sakura in understanding as the man left the room. The medic walked across the room to look out across the yard quietly only turning back around when she heard a distinctly familiar _'poof'_.

She leveled her gaze at Kakashi who was kneeling down whispering with the two Ninken. "What are they doing here Kakashi?

The Jounin stood rubbing the dog's heads affectionately and returned her flat gaze with smile. "Bull, he is here for protection."

Sakura sighed deeply as she recognized the other dog. _'I knew this was going to happen'_

. "…and him..?"

"Sakura, He is just here to observe-"

The door creaked open loudly and in strolled Kobiyashi with Akino on his heels, the amused smirk that crossed Kakashi's face did not go un-missed by her and she gave him a reproachful look and shook her head at him. _'..Don't be such an ass…'_

Kobiyashi greeted them with a bow. He was dressed in black slacks and an off-white sweater. His hair was again comb to perfection and rings decorated his fingers today. "Ohh…take it off before I have Akino do it for you, it made a dismissive gestured toward them."

They both huffed out a 'Kai' and dropped the henges quickly.

Akino walked across the room, completely ignoring Kakashi and bowed lightly to Sakura taking her hand and placing a chaste kiss on it. "Sakura-san, it is good to see you again so soon."

Kakashi's eye twitched in irritation as Akino tried to weasel into Sakura's good graces. He caught the warning in her eye's as she glanced at him over Akino's back. The other man turned and ran his eyes over Kakashi and the two dogs with an un-impressed frown. "Haiyake-san."

The copy-ninja stared at the Kekkei-genkai user before quickly he glanced at Sakura and shrugged to let her know full well, he had no choice now. He had done that on purpose.

"It's Hatake" he muttered his eyes narrowing slightly with irritation.

The tall shinobi gave an un-apologetic smile. "..hnnn must have slipped my mind…"

"Who are these fine animals?" Karu exclaimed as he eyed the two Ninken, "They are simply marvelous. Much like yourself Kakashi…"

Kakashi whole demonor changed and he turned to Karu and grinned brightly. He vaugely registered the sound of Sakura sighing behind him. He motion to the large bulldog. "This is Bull." And this he waved his hand down to the smaller dog. "This is …. Akino."

The copy-ninja gave a sideways glance to the dark-haired man of the same name and met a pair of dangerously narrowed eyes, the sound of Kobiyashi's bold laughter at odds with the irritated look he was receiving.

The Dog-Akino sniffed lightly in the direction of Man-Akino and sneezed. "He smells pretty boss." Kakashi leaned down at laid a loving hand on the brown dog with a small decidedly un-stern shake of his head. "..he's a Shinobi, only he doesn't do mission's really….he mostly stays here at the tea-house."

The dog cocked his head slightly as if trying to understand. "How can he be a real shinobi, if he dosn't do anything?"

Kakashi smothered his laughter and adopted a serious voice. "oh Akino, I'm sure he does very important things here.." He could feel the anger seeping off the man they were discussing and it was delightful. He would owe his little ninken for playing along so well, but it was completely worth it.

Sakura wanted to rip her eyes out as she let her head fall back as she stared at the ceiling. Kakashi and Man-Akino had enough waves of testosterone flowing off them to fill all the rivers in Tani. _'Of course he has just been waiting for this since the first time he found out his name..it was too much to hope he could let it slip by..'_

Karu had regained some of his composure and waltzed over to the two men with a happy smile. "oo we are all getting along so well already!"

The Kekkei-genkai user glared from the dog to its master with a sneer as he triede to control his features from showing too much annyoance, thats just Kakashi wanted. The man from Konoha was un-couth and tactless. Something he couldn't stand.

"Kakashi…" Sakura called from across the room. "Maybe send the guys back…so we can get to work?"

The Jounin shrugged indifferently. "I just thought that Kobiyashi-san might like to see them, and I know Akino wanted to meet Akino." He motioned from the dog to the man not clarifying who wanted what. He nodded to the little brown dog quietly dismissing him. "Go ahead.." Dog-Akino gave a curt nod and poofed away.

The tall dark-haired shinobi had already turned from the circus of animals with distain and made his way toward the tables to pour himself a drink. Sakura and Kobiyashi quickly following, Kakashi trailed behind rubbing Bull on the head. "You can stay with me Bull." The big dog nodded and walked over to the table.

Sakura smiled at Bull as the large dog plodded toward her she reached down and rubbed him beneath his huge jowls. "You look good bull." The dog wagged his stubby tail lightly. "You too Sakura-chan…are you all better now?"

She winced slightly ignoring the prying eyes of Karu and Akino as she muttered lowly to the dog. "Yeah Bull..I'm fine."

Kakashi sat in the unoccupied armchair beside Sakura, Bull moving to lounge between them. He met his Medics eyes as he heard the exchange between her and the ninken and an understanding passed between them. The last mission, Sai had died, Bull, Pakkun and she had almost died. That was why they were here now. The both turned toward the other two men expectantly.

"Kobiyashi-san you wanted to speak with us?"

"Yes Kakashi, I believe I have an idea of what to do to get you in the club with me and get the Daimyo to speak with you, but I don't know how you two will like it."

The meeting lasted only a short while. Karu had posed a well thought out idea and both Kakashi and Sakura (and Bull) agreed to it, but they would need to run it by Tsunade first because it would mean a big change in the mission lay out.

As Kakashi stood up to leave, Karu cleared he throat and motioned with one finger for the masked man to sit back down. "Now excuse me, but I'm offering you all this help...the least you could both do is dine with us..."

Sakura forced a smile, she didn't really want to sit here and eat dinner with the two men that kept shooting poisoned glances across the table at each other, but he was helping out a lot. "Of course Karu, we did not mean to be rude."

Karu rolled his eyes light heartedly and they landed on the already standing silver-haired man. "Of course he doesn't mean it; he's just very good at it…"

Akino bit back a self-satisfied chuckle as Kakashi exhaled and sat back down with a frown. "So dinner for four then?"

Kakashi looked over at the dark-haired shinobi man and caught his eye and nodded toward the floor at the bulldog. "Dinner for five Aki-kun, or six and I can call my Akino back."

"Kakashi…" Sakura bit out the retort as beside her Kobiyashi's eyes popped out of his head with surprise as he looked toward his own personal shinobi. "Aki-kun!"

Akino shoulders tensed and he grimaced as his name was massacred by a man he couldn't stand, in front of his boss (who seemed to love the idea) and a woman he found more than mildly attractive.

"Please, just Akino…"his eyes glared across the table at the masked-man

Kakashi nodded his head with a smile. "hnnn...must have slipped my mind.."

* * *

Akino stood to leave the room and was back within minutes, having passed along the message to bring up dinner for five. In the ten minutes he was gone, Karu had ended up on the floor with the monster ninken's head in his lap as Sakura and Kakashi stood side by side across from him, answering all his questions as best they could. It was not exactly protocol to divulge too much information to outside sources, so they kept the answers vague and short.

Karu rubbed Bulls ears lightly and frowned as he noticed the loss of the other ear. "What happened to your ear Bull?"

The dog huffed quietly before answering. "Lost it, same time my legs got broke, same time Sakura got hurt same time Sai-"

"Bull, enough." Kakashi's stern voice drew all eyes except Sakura's who stared at the floor distantly.

"Sorry boss…" The bulldog looked abashed as he stared between his master and his favorite not-kakashi-human, Sakura. It was hard for the dogs to understand human emotion from time to time. He forgot how long it took for them to recover from loss and pain.

Kobiyashi stood glancing curiously between the silver and pink haired shinobi as Akino too watched them. Kakashi's eye was fixed on Sakura and she stared at the ground.

The medic struggled to maintain herself as she felt all the eyes fall on her_. 'Sai, I miss you…'_ She thought over the strange happy smile he would display, the irritaing way he would ask questions he already knew the answer too. She shoved down the guilt and the sound of the explosions. She tried to forget how scared she was how hopeless she felt. She remembered seeing him the last time_. 'Was he even alive then or had he already died, what was the last thing he thought or was it all too painful?'_ She tried to push it away and forget. It wasn't working.

The copy-ninja watched his medic, his heart dropping in his chest. He knew what she was doing; he did it all the time. _'Sai…im sorry..' _He reached his hand out and placed it on her back gently "Come on Sakura-chan…

The kunoichi flicked her eyes up toward her comrade as he touched her back. She could see he small sad smile under the mask. She knew he understood what she was feeling, with that thought her worry and guilt was shifted to the back-burner where it belonged.

Twenty minutes later they ate a miraculously peaceful meal, Akino and Kakashi keeping their distance from each other. Karu too, was treading lightly in wake of the curiously emotional moment that had passed between the two leaf-ninja, he appeared to be opting out of sexually harassing the copy-ninja to death. They chatted idly about the uninteresting topics until Sakura broached the topic of Akino's origin.

They discovered he was actually a missing-nin from Snow Country; he had left the village over seven years ago when he was sixteen when his clan tried to force him to marry. He had never been back and never wanted to go back. He just wanted a normal life and to live it how he wanted. When he showed up on the doorstep of one of Kobiyashi's other establishments, the young entrepreneur had offered the homeless boy a job instead of bread. He quickly advanced through the ranks in Karu's establishments by the use of his wit and strategy to turn a profit for the businesses. It wasn't until two years later that he dispelled the genjustsu of someone who was trying to use on Karu, in order to work him over in a business deal that Kobiyashi had discovered Akino's talents. He had taken it upon himself to make sure Akino's background was fool-proof; he procured documents and false paperwork for the run away snow-ninja in case anyone ever asked any questions. Only one time and by accident, had a hunter-nin ever crossed their paths. The Shinobi from Snow was quickly bribed to keep the secret and they had never heard a word since. Akino was the closest thing to a son Karu had ever had.

After they had dinner Kakashi dismissed Bull and they re-applied their henges to begin the long walk home. Kobiyahsi and Akino walked the two covert ninja to the edge of the estate and bowed a small goodbye. Akino in Kakashi's opinion was being much to familar with Sakura for only having met her one time before. They departed in silence to begin the long walk back to the hotel to begin preparing for the new angle the mission was likely to take.

* * *

As the trudged through the streets back to the hotel Kakashi spared a thoughtful gaze toward the sky. "Looks like it's going to rain, we'll put off scouting the Merchant houses until tomorrow. Hopefully the most of the residents will be out of the houses by mid-morning."

Sakura nodded quietly and glanced up to the sky that was prematurely dark from the oncoming storm. "Yeah…ok." She hadn't stopped thinking about Sai since Bull had mentioned his name aloud in Kobiyashi's room. The memories of him trickled into her thoughts like rain dripping in from a leaky roof, it was a small drip but soon everything was saturated. She thought about all the sketches she had tucked away in her bedroom that he had drawn over the years, she had never even gotten to show Kakashi or Naruto. The idea of the sketches brought about the memories of Sasuke in the cell, the change in his personality, his acceptance of his failures. She sighed deeply as her thoughts continues to move along an unclear path. She pulled her coat up tighter around her neck and shoved her hands into her pockets as the wind began to rip sharply through the streets.

The copy-nin shifted he gaze to his teammate that walked in silence beside him. A twinge of guilt passed through him as he watched her lost in her thoughts_. '…She's thinking about him again…'_ He pulled his hand out of his pocket and reached out his arm and pulled her into his side, much like he had the night he had walked her home after the bar. He battled his own emotions as a warm feeling of pleasure spread over him; she had put her own arm around his back, gingerly sliding her hand into the already occupied pocket of his jacket. He lightly gripped her hand that was in his own pocket and held her shoulders close as he tugged her to his side_. '..oo Hatake you are dancing on razor blades here…'_ He knew it was wrong but he tried to justify his actions in his head_. 'No, we are just friends. She's sad so I put my arm around her, I would do the same with anyone else.'_ But it was different and he knew it.

The medic's thoughts began to be filled with the Jounin as she felt his strong hand entwining with hers in his pocket. She felt her heart beat faster as he pulled her close to him and she did not resist, it felt so right. _'You would never do this in Konoha, you know it's not right.'_ It was true but that didn't stop her from running her fingers lightly along his own, in the dark unseen warmth of his jacket. They kept silent both focused on each other as their fingers continued with the subtle endeavors.

As they reached the front of the hotel he pulled his hand from his pocket to open the door as she did the same, both immediately regretting the absence of the others warmth. He ushered her inside, his hand still gently around her shoulders, though not as firm as before. They wandered silently through the hall toward their rooms an unsure apprehension descending on them both.

"Goodnight Sakura, I'll see you in the morning." He turned quickly trying to avoid an odd moments between them, his mind had already started traveling down dark and dangerous paths the closer they got toward the bedrooms. A familiar stirring had begun below his belt and he needed to make a quick retreat before it got any worse. He opened his door with steady hands and silently slipped inside and shut it behind him_. 'Gods…I need to take a step back…this is getting out of control..'_

Sakura stood awkwardly in the hallway as her team-leader ran in to his room_. 'He ran..he ran away.'_ Her thoughts were a jumbled mess, she wanted to talk to him about what was going on but how could she_. 'Hey Kakashi, there seems to be something going on, and both of us realize it. What do you think?'_ She turned to open her own door and stopped. This was ridiculous they were friends, they could talk about anything.

The medic stared at the Jounin's door and knocked lightly.

"It's still open..come in."

She walked in quietly and dropped her henge as her gaze fell on the silver haired man that sat pulling his shoes off on the edge of his bed, not looking in her direction. She walked across his floor and stood staring down at the small table in his room, her hand gently running over the smooth edges of the weapons he had obviously just removed from his clothing and placed there. A chokingly thick layer of tension filled the room as the unspoken words drifted between them like smoke.

"Kakashi…" She trailed off mutely, not sure exactly what she wanted to say. She froze as she heard him stand and move behind her. Her breath caught in her throat as he ran his fingers down her arm to her hand.

The Jounin man waged a silentl at war with himself as he stood behind his pink haired medic. His fingers ached to move over more of her body as she stood ridged with anticipation. His fingers gripped her own tightly as they both stared down at their hands.

"Sakura, this….it can't happen."

"I know….." She turned around to gaze up at him, surprised to see his exposed face, his mask bunched down around his neck. She felt his fingers grip hers tighter as they stared at each other. She reached other her hand up absently to touch his face, still mesmerized by seeing the entirety of his expressions on display for her.

He turned his face slightly away from her hand grabbing her wrist with his unoccupied hand. "Sakura…don't." He turned back to see the pained look cloud her features and he released both her hands from his own and stepped back.

The kunoichi's eyes went wide and she pulled her hand back with shame. "I'm sorry, I'll go." She pushed past him and quickly moved toward the door. She reached for the knob and pulled it open only to have it pushed back closed in front of her, Kakashi's hand over her head holding the door secure.

"No..Don't be upset with me.." his voice rasped quietly from beside her ear sending a shiver down her spine.

"I'm not …I just thought I should leave." She turned around to face him her back brushing against the door behind her. His face was twisted from the turmoil he was feeling, he refused to look at her instead he stared above her toward the door he was holding closed.

"It would be better…but I don't want you to.." He moved his hand off the door and tucked her hair behind her ear, his finger lightly brushing over the scar under her hair she got on the last mission. He heard her breath catch as he ran his hand down her chin letting his thumb brush lightly over her soft pink lips. He closed his eye as he tried to shove down his desire_. 'Just open the door and let her leave..'_

Sakura watched him as he closed his eyes, her heart in her throat as warmth spread throughout her body_. 'Just leave…tell him your tired and leave.'_ She turned her head lightly into the hand the cupped her chin and kissed his palm, feeling the rough callused skin that came with being an experience Shinobi on her lips. She felt him freeze as he realized what she was doing; his hand slipped back under her chin and brought her face up. She opened her eyes watching as he stared down at her before he pulled her to him, his mouth meeting hers halfway.

The Jounin slid his arm around her waist and the other move to the back of her head tangling in her pick locks, pulling her closer to him as he adjusted his stance to allow himself better access to her mouth. He moved slowly gently parting her lips with his own, not rushing her not forcing her just waiting for her respond. He ran his tongue lightly over hers an invitation which she readily accepted with a light moan of pleasure as she leaned in to him.

The medic slid her hands under the thick fabic of his black shirt, letting her fingertips trace the ridges on his abdomen and slide around up to the smooth planes of his back. A intense swelling of desire worked its way in to her stomach as the taut body of her team captain loomed over her, his kisses tenderly pressing in to her. His hands began slowly moving down her back and her sides, feeling the counters of her hips and the dip of her waist, but never moving farther.

He was afraid. Afraid of what he was doing, afraid to go too far, afraid of the line he crossed with her. But he couldn't stop. She tasted so sweet and warm, her small hands running over his stomach and back leaving little lines of fire in their wake. He wanted more he wanted so much more and it scared him to death.

Somewhere in the back of her head she knew she shouldn't do this but the other half of her brain had tied that half up and was beating it do death with the heat that was spreading between her thighs. As her hands again moved to caress the defined surface of his stomach her hands spread over a smooth area of skin and she recalled the scar she had seen earlier. In a movement born of passion and curiosity she tucked her hand under the warm waist of his pants and let her fingers dance against the imperfection that trailed down his hip. The feeling of her hands exploring the hidden flesh cause the silver haired man to groan lowly into her mouth and press her up against the door. He slipped his hands under her own shirt, his large hands grasping at her hips and he pressed him into her.

Sakura raised her hands and wrapped her hands around the back of his neck, needing more of him wanting him closer. She arched into him bringing her body flush with his, eliciting a guttural moan from him as her body pressed into the firm length of his prominent erection.

The medic's breath caught at the feeling of his lust tucked up against her abdomen and she froze, her hesitation quickly mirrored by the man pressed against her. They stood in silence feeling each others body's pressed warmly together, listening to the ragged sounds of their own breathing.

'…_.what are you doing? What the hell are you doing?'_ Images of her Shishou, Naruto, Ino everyone in Konoha popped into her head._ 'You're going to ruin it all..your rank your hard work…your reputation?. on a fling? With fucking Kakashi?! He's your teammate your friend...You're on a mission…'_

The copy-nin laid his head on the door over Sakura's shoulder, his hands still on her hips as he tried to control his breathing and deal with what he had just let happen. _'Gods, she's your subordinate. You have known her forever you can't do this to her, to yourself….what the hell are you doing ..?'_

"Kakashi.." the pink haired women dropped her hands from around his neck and leaned her head on his chest lightly. "..I..I need to leave..let's just pretend like this didn't happen…"

The Jounin took a deep breath and stepped away from her his hands quickly tucking her shirt back down around her waist, he refused to meet her eye. "Yeah…thats probably best.."

* * *

The kunoichi left his room quickly and proceeded to her own. She immediately went to her bathroom and turned the shower on, letting the hot steam spill out into her bedroom. She dropped her clothes off and looked at herself in the mirror. Her lips were puffy but otherwise she looked the same. _'Did you think you would look different after just participating in a dereliction of judgment?'_ She sighed deeply, still not able to fully accept what had actually happened. She stepped in the shower, letting the heat sink into her skin. She needed to think, and she always thought the best while in the shower.

Kakashi leaned his head against the door willing himself to calm down after Sakura had left, but it hadn't happened yet. He listened to her water turn on through the cheap walls in the hotel and the ache in his pants grew sharper. He exhaled angrily and shoved away from the wall and moved to his own shower, he needed to get her smell off of him. He could smell her fresh scented shampoo, the one she had informed him months ago she thought smelled like a rainstorm. He could smell the minty chap-stick she was wearing, that he now was wearing too. He could smell it all and he needed it off of him now.

He stood in the shower, his head down, hands braced under the shower-head supporting his weight while his unkempt hair slid down his face. He couldn't smell her anymore but he could still imagine what she felt like, so smooth and firm. She was delicate in frame but not soft at all. He could still hear the small sounds of pleasure she made when he had softly tugged on her lower lip with his teeth, or when he hand grasped her hips and pulled her to him, it was driving him to agony.

One of his hands left the wall and he un-willingly took himself in his hand and slid it up his already insanely aroused length. The movement caused him to groan deeply as his brain began filling with images of his pink haired medic. He started pumping himself harder closing his eyes as he thought of her, he imagined her on her back eyes closed in pleasure, on her knees before him her mouth wrapped around his cock as his fingers tangled in her hair, leaning over his bed as he took her from behind calling his name and begging him for more. His body spasmed rigidly as he reached his climaxed and he groaned her name through clenched teeth as he came all over his hand.

The copy-ninja exited the shower dripping shame and water. He dried off quickly and moved to lay in his bed, he couldn't even read his favorite books because his pink-haired comrade might make a début. So he lay in bed and stared at the ceiling waiting for sleep to take him. _'You can't do this Hatake...you need to step back..its out of control..'_

* * *

**_A/N_**

_I actually had this chap and the next all ready to go last week but decided to scrap them both and go a different route... So what do you think?_

**_ /\_/\ _**

**_Ninken Ears_**


	10. I don't care

_It was brought to my attention that there were some of you guys were having uploading problems with chap 6. Slamming doors. For some reason it didn't load for everyone. So if you want to skip back it and make sure you read it, it should be there for everybody now. I'm not sure what happened._

_ apologies that was kind of an important chap lol._

_Also I'm going to go ahead and say the hunt for a Beta on this story is on. If your interested PM me._

**_I don't care_**

* * *

_'Stress induced sexual disorder, it's like I developed a variation of the elctra complex. No don't be stupid I don't have penis envy. I have….' _She sighed in defeat. She had failed to logically diagnose her issues with Kakashi, yet again. It had been three days since that night in her Team-leaders hotel room. Three days full of awkward forced sentences, no eye contact, keep our personal bubbles three feet from each other, no it's fine I can do it alone thanks, I'll be back I'm going to scout with the ninken. She had said let's pretend like this didn't happen, but that wasn't working at all.

Yesterday morning they had gone to the river to contact Tsunade, Sakura had stomped her foot in protest when Kakashi suggested she just wait for him to return. She got her way but it was not enjoyable by any stretch of the imagination. She tried to focus but her eyes were constantly drawn to him, it was absurd. She kept going over the way he felt against her that night. The helpless sounds of desire he made when his mouth played with hers. The way his strong body felt under her touch and how his fingers grabbed at her and drew her closer. He had been so gentle with her but his need was desperate. Every time she thought of it heat would spread though her like fire on a dry field. She had only been with a few men and none of them had come close to making her feel the way he did with just a kiss.

xxx

_ Hyato was the only man she had been with for an extended amount of time and he wasn't anything to brag about between the sheets. He was very Anbu like with the whole business, get in, get the job done and be quiet about it._

_ After a particularly frustrating night, she had almost been there, she was so close and then he finished leaving her irritated and unfulfilled. She had narrowed her eyes in the dim light glaring at the hazy eyed look of satisfaction on the man above her. "It's nice you get to finish. Is that your specialization in Anbu…Sexual torture?"_

_The sandy-haired man scoffed in disgust and shifted off of her. "..What do you want Sakura, I just got back from a mission..." was the only excuse he could come up with as he sat on the edge of her bed running his hands through his hair nonchalantly._

_"Well at least we know you bring you're 'A' game to work." She bit out sharply still feeling the pulsing ache between her legs._

_He shook his head and rolled his eyes refusing to comment as he got up and strode over to her bathroom to turn on the shower._

_She knew she was being a bitch, but oh well, he was getting on her nerves already and it had only been five months. He was always complaining about the guys coming to see her all the time and he couldn't take the time out of his busy schedule of getting himself off to consider she might want some satisfaction too._

_As she heard him enter the shower she gave an annoyed snarl and lowered her hand between her legs to finish what he could not._

_Four days later Kakashi, Naruto and Sai had sauntered in to her apartment, pissed off Hyato and given her a perfect way to break it off with him. _

_xxxxx _

* * *

The trip to the river to meet Naruto's summon was strained at best. They stood side by side making an extreme effort not to touch each other. The copy-ninja refused to look at her as he tried to play the calm and collected leader. The ninken wandered out the small area nervously, feeding off the anxious tension that flitted between the two team-mates. The trips they had spent scouting out the suspiciously well protected merchant houses had only gone marginally better. Talking was strictly prohibited as you creep around the grounds of a residence you were planning on entering illegally sometime in the future, so the silence was excusable. Not the case as they waited in an uncomfortably hushed stand off for Naruto's contact to appear. The sounds of the wind blowing through the trees and the rough sound of an itchy dog, scratching itself the only noises of note in the area.

When the toad appeared at the edge of the river they both relaxed slightly, happy to distract themselves with work. The little orange and blue summon pulled a scroll much too big for its body from his mouth and handed it to Sakura. She read over it in silence and then handed it to the mute masked-man on her left.

"Looks like they are having a hard time in Suna." She broke the silence, frowning at the idea of having to spend ages in River country because Naruto was taking forever in Suna. His note said that they had made little ground in the past week. Gaara was trying to help, but his council and the Elders were not budging with the scroll Tsunade wanted. They had also not found any useful Intel while wandering around in Suna asking questions. Nothing was going the way they had hoped.

Shikamaru's neat tiny scrawl added what seemed to be a short irritated P.S. at the bottom_ 'We should have had someone come in with a Henge like you are doing in River, but we thought Suna would be more helpful. This is a pain.' _The medic couldn't help a small laugh as she imagined the tactician's irritated face as he jabbed his thoughts on to the scroll.

The copy-ninja rolled out more of the scroll and began adding the details of their mission in River so far. _'I bet he doesn't put anything about our indiscretions…I hope he doesn't.'_ Panic gripped her for an unsure moment as she looked over his shoulder to see what he was writing. _'..Ok…he's not.'_

_"_Anything you think we need to add?" Kakashi asked without looking at her.

_'Is he asking me if I want to tell? or is he being funny, probably not. He's probably just asking you if you can think of anything to add, dummy.'_ She looked over the scroll as he held it out to her, still not looking in her direction. "No looks fine."

She handed the scroll back to the toad and they waited some more.

Thirty extremely long minutes later the Toad resurfaced and Kakashi took the scroll from him.

"..Went to Tsunade, then to Naruto….then back to us." he mumbled dryly as he read over it and handed it to her.

Tsunade large flowing characters showed that she had approved their mission changes with a large and substantial warning to be extremely careful. She expected them to contact her again at dusk the day after they tried to make contact with the Daimyo at 'Swift River'.

Shikamaru's precise script politely asked them if they could see if Kobiyashi would give them the names of his business partners in Suna, perhaps they would be able to get a foot hold if they had actual leads that would assist them.

Naruto's scribble told them to be careful at the club and _'Kakashi-sensei, make sure Sakura-chan keeps it in her pants around the Rain and River guys at the club, she's got bad taste in men'_. He drew a big happy face with the tongue sticking out after his lewd comment.

Hinata's fluttery paragraph asked them again to be careful. She also gave them a few tips on dealing with the hierarchy of the Daimyo group when they encountered them. Off to the side she drew an arrow to Naruto's statements_ 'I told him not to write this I'm sorry...you know how he is. We all miss you both.'_

Sakura's face was in danger of turning red as she read over the statement Naruto wrote, knowing Kakashi had already read it. _'..ugh stupid Naruto! I'm gunna kill him...'_ She began copying down her own comments. Telling Naruto to shut his big stupid mouth, informing Shikamaru that they would ask Kobiyashi the next time they saw him and thanking Hinata for the information on the Daimyo_. 'We will both be careful, we miss you all too. See you soon hopefully. Talk to you again the day after tomorrow, sunset.' _She added to the bottom signing her own name and drawing Kakashi's Henohenomoheji beside it.

"Anything else to say?" she handed the scroll to the Jounin and he looked it over and shook his head as he handed it back to her. She gave an irritated huff at his silence and gave the toad the scroll again.

Kakashi wandered over to his dogs and crouched between them across the clearing, rubbing them on the back and on their heads as he discussed any information they had come across. He had them running daily rounds of the outskirts of Tani, trying to pick up any familiar scents. So far they had nothing.

The medic watched them all gathered together and stood like a cat at a dog party as she leaned against a tree. She needed to talk to Kakashi, to get her feelings off of her chest to get them over this or whatever the hell was going on. She just wanted to talk to him and he was not having it.

_'No..I will talk to him, talk to him and not kiss him..or more…no not more, not even kissing. It was so nice though..no stop it..your hormonal or something..stop. Tomorrow you will talk to him though.'_

* * *

She blinked her eyes at the last rays of sun that peeked through the large windows of the new hotel room, she stretched her arms above her head enjoying in the feel of the soft mattress and pillows under her._ '..I'm going to fall asleep…'_

As soon as the mission changes were approved they had abandoned their henges at the shabby hotel in the center of Tani and moved closer to Kobiyashi's tea-house and residence. Their new cover was acting as a go between for Kobiyashi and Konoha, laboring under the guise of Kobiyashi being interested in opening new establishments in the hidden village. They would still hold on to the front of also searching for the two missing-nin, that way they could still ask the questions they needed too around town.

Karu had made the suggestion at the last meeting that they should drop the Henge's. The infamous Kakashi no Sharingan and The Hokage's own apprentice, they were much more likely to be invited into conversation by the pretentious people that would be attending the club. If they were to show up with him and just be two everyday Shinobi, they would be lucky to get the time of day from even the lowliest hangers-on.

So yesterday they gathered their few belongings and made their first appearance in Tani as themselves. The tall silver-haired masked man and the petite pink haired shinobi met Karu at his tea-house in broad daylight and let him escort them to a large prestigious establishment a few streets over. He had paid for them to have a large two room suite (Kakashi said Tsunade would pay him back, Sakura wasn't so sure) that was separated by a single bathroom in the middle. It was much nicer than anything Sakura was accustomed to so she didn't voice a single objection. The room was large and airy and on the top floor of the five-story building. The bathroom that she shared with Kakashi was enormous and she didn't think Hinata, Ten-ten, Ino and herself would have any problem all getting ready together in the giant bathroom, and that was saying something.

She turned over and yawned loudly, listening to the soft sound of breath beside her and smiled lightly, putting her arms around the warm body. "You're so lazy…we shouldn't be falling asleep."

"gffftt" was the only noise he made in response.

"You should leave before someone catches you here…" she whispered softly as she closed her eyes and drew him in closer, breathing in his fresh scent, he smelled like her shampoo. He had been there for hours; he had a job he was suppose to be doing. He shouldn't be lying in bed with her.

A forceful knock on the door made them both jump up quickly. Her heart pounding in her chest, the pink haired women looked at him in shock. "Run! Hide!" she breathed out lowly through clenched teeth.

"I heard you; I know he's in there..." The voice on the other side of the door was wrought with irritation. "Open the door now Sakura or I will rip it off …"

"It's too late Sakura…just open the door." The medic gave her companion worried grimace as he spoke. He seemed resigned to his fate, ready to face the angry voice behind the door.

She walked over to the door that connected her room to Kakashi's, through the bathroom they now shared. She opened it a crack and stared pleadingly at her team-leader. "It was my fault...I asked him to come over-"

The silver-haired man shoved the door open and brushed past her and trained his eyes on the intruder.

"Kakashi…I can explain." The interloper beseeched

The frustration cracked through his voice as he leaned down over the little ninken."Pakkun, why aren't you out with the others?!"

The pug shrunk before his master's deadly gaze. "Sakura-chan asked me to come over yesterday. You guys were moving across town to this new place and I couldn't. So I came today instead. I went out with them and scouted my area. The other guys said it was fine and they would cover my region again on the way back in."

"I gave you an order Pakkun. You deliberately disobeyed."

Sakura stepped up in front of the little pug and crossed her arms. "Stop getting mad at him, I asked him to come over!"

The copy-nin turned his annoyance to Sakura, his eye dropping on her for the first time in days. It was like being hit with a sledge-hammer between the eyes. "What did you need him for?"

She shifted uncomfortably under his vicious stare. "Well I was asking him about….if he had seen any of these different medicinal herbs, I heard they only grow by the Rivers here."

Kakashi narrowed his visible eye at the obvious lie and frowned at her. "Ok Sakura...fine." He nodded toward the door as he turned to walk out. "Pakkun, we need to talk. **Now**."

The medic bent down and rubbed the ninken on his head as he stared back at her. "I'm sorry."

The dog snorted at her. "It's ok Sakura, don't worry." She watched as the little dog walked confidently after his master. Kakashi stood beside the door into his room and watched Pakkun walk through the bathroom and into his own room. The door clicked quietly behind them and the two disappeared from Sakura's sight.

She had decided yesterday morning to talk to Kakashi, but she never actually worked up the courage to do so. She instead asked Pakkun to come talk to her, while Kakashi was out of ear-shot helping Bisuke improve his chakra control on a new technique. She wanted to see if the pug had any insight to the issues she was having with her masked comrade. With the mission change they didn't have a chance to meet, but today a few hours after noon a small 'poof' followed by a scratching sound and a gurgled bark told her that the little ninken had come for his meeting.

_'Now he's in trouble because of you…nice going.'_

* * *

The pug jumped up on his master's bed and sat quietly staring at the Jounin as he flopped in a chair and stared back at the pug. The silence was marked by the quiet pattering of rain beginning to fall on the glass windows on the other side of the room. Seconds turned to minutes as the two sat staring derisively at each other.

After five minutes in to the staring contest, Kakashi had enough. "How long have you been in there?"

"When did you figure out I was missing?" the pugs raspy voice dodged the question effortlessly, a habit picked up from years of working with the copy-ninja.

"Why are you answering my questions with more questions?"

"Have I been?"

"When did you leave the group?"

"Why don't you ask me what you really want to know?"

"What do I really want to know Pakkun?"

"Why Sakura wanted to talk to me…?" the pug laid down lazily, confidend in his reponse. His eyes still trained on his frustrated master.

The copy-ninja sighed and tugged the mask down off his face to rub at his chin. He leaned backward staring up at the ceiling hoping it could provide him with the answers he needed. After a few minutes of waiting the ceiling still didn't feel like enlightening him, so he gave up and took the bait the pug had laid out in front of him. "Ok Pakkun, what did Sakura want to talk to you about?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" he barked out with irritated sarcasm. He knew full well they were not speaking to each other. That was the reason the pink haired girl asked him to come talk to her.

The Jounin was on his feet striding across the room as soon as the dog's snarky remark left his wrinkled mouth. He leaned over the bed placing a hand on either side of the dog. "Pakkun.. You disobeyed me and now you're refusing to answer me?" his low voice was simmering with impatience.

The pug gave an undaunted sigh. He knew when Kakashi was really upset with him and this time he was not.

"Your being an ass Kakashi…Sakura is your friend, it's hardly been more than a month since she almost died, and before you two were always together and now…"The little tan dog wagged his tail to try to deflate the feeling of anguish that was starting to ooze off the Silver-haired man above him.

"Me and the guys don't know what you're doing. It's not like we didn't notice yesterday morning when you came out with her, you weren't even looking at her, you said maybe three words to her the whole time. That's why they covered for me, so I could go talk to her… What did she do?"

The copy-ninja exhaled deeply and flopped down on his back beside his dog, placing his hands under his head. He started up at the quickly spinning blades of the ceiling fan as he tried to decide what to say. "She hasn't done anything, it's me."

"I could've guessed that.." Pakkun stood up with a grunt and stepped lightly up onto his master's chest and sat on him looking down at Kakashi's unmasked face. "Ok, so what did **you** do?"

The Copy-nin refused to meet the ninken's eyes. "I..we.…" he felt humiliated as he tried to bring himself to say the words he couldn't.

_'Tell him; tell the dog you have been having vivid fantasies about your subordinate. Tell him about how you have to leave the room when you know she's in the shower, because your blood leaves your brain. Tell him how you kissed her and the more you think about it the more you want to do it again. Tell him how every night since then you fight and lose the battle not to jerk of to the thought of that kiss. Tell him how you hate yourself for ruining one of the best friendships you've ever had. Tell him you miss her so much it makes your chest feel like a ton of bricks…Tell him all that.' _

"Kakashi..…?" The pug watched Kakashi's thoughts drift across his face but he could not tell what they were.

"Something happened between us, something's different, , but it can't happen." He turned his eye from the ceiling fan and looked at the dog on his chest; Pakkun's face frowned down at him in confusion.

He would have to clarify. "Sakura and I…I don't know Pakkun.." He put his hands over his face trying to hide his ignominy. "Gods Pakkun, I missed her so much, and I was so worried about her after the last mission. I don't know when this started happening…We were friends and now I can't stop thinking about her…I'm even imaging that you smell like her.." he trailed off again.

The pug lay down on his summoner's chest with a sigh.

"She gave me a bath with her shampoo, Kakashi."

The Jounin laughed darkly at himself. He had thought he was going crazy. "She spoils you guys too much…"

"humph …. I remember her bringing you coffee as a bribe to get you out of bed before noon. Or her treating your injuries at your apartment because you didn't want to go to the hospital…"

The little ninken turned back to the problem at hand. He thought he knew the direction this was going, him and the guys had seen it coming for a while. They were all waiting for it. Leave it to human's to take their time getting around to things and not seeing what's right in front of them.

Sakura said as much about the problems she was having with Kakashi when they had talked earlier, though she was much more confusing about it. She kept talking about personality disorders, authority figures and intense moments. Really she was one of the most baffling humans he ever met, but she was so nice and she always smelled so good and brought sausages. She was wonderful.

He waited quietly for the man beneath him to continue.

" I kissed her. She kissed me back. I tried to ignore it, but I can't…."

The ninken snorted lightly. "So now you're ignoring her instead?"

Kakashi bit the inside of his cheek in thought as he stared back at the fan, a knot of guilt clenching at his chest. "Yea…."

"I don't understand. Sakura is great, she's strong, smart and she cares about you. She came to see me and bull when we were hurt, and she told us about the fight you guys had…she missed you a lot Kakashi, and now your being an idiot."

He sighed deeply and closed his eyes as he listened to the ninken's perceptive point of view. It was making the knot in his chest tighter.

"I know Pakkun, ...but I can't do that to her. I've let her down I can't hurt her again and that's all I would end up doing. It's completely against protocol to get involved with a subordinate, it would jeopardize our mission. It could split up the team. She could lose her rank; I could get stripped of mine." He shook his head in disbelief.

"I still don't understand the problem and she's afraid she made you mad. Everything else can work itself out Kakashi; you should just talk to her."

"I just don't know what to say. I'm screwing everything up." He shrugged and reached his hand up to rub the dog behind his ears.

"Just go talk to her that's all she wants. You don't have to tell her everything, just talk to her. She just wants her friend back; you can't go on a mission with another shinobi and not talk to them. **Fix it**."

The copy-nin rubbed the dog's head roughly with a small smile. "Ok Pakkun, you made your point. You're still in trouble for not listening to me though." He picked the pug up and placed him on the bed as he stood and walked to the window, staring out at the rain that was starting to fall harder.

"I'll go get us something to eat and I'll talk to her" he frowned up at the pouring rain and moved to pull his jacket on turning to the dog on the bed before leaving.

"You coming, Pakkun?"

The pug looked at the rain and back to his silver-haired summoner and sighed. "ok..I'll go, but you have to buy me something."

* * *

Sakura sat on the ledge of the large bay window watching the storm approach. Her arms wrapped around her legs and her chin on her knees.

_'I hope I didn't get Pakkun in too much trouble.'_

She looked toward the bathroom door; it had been incredibly silent since Kakashi had taken his pug in the room for sentencing. She pondered vaguely if she should go rescue her wrinkle faced friend, but she was already at odds with Kakashi the past few days, and now that she ninken-napped Pakkun this afternoon…. she was sure she had just added fuel to Kakashi's fire.

_'This is what happens when you kiss your team-leader'_ she couldn't stop thinking about that moment in his room. But that small moment had changed everything. _'Did he just kiss me because he thought that's what I wanted? Is that what I wanted?'_ In the back of her mind she acquiesced, she had wanted him to kiss her. The feelings she had for him had warped over time from admiration to affection to something else entirely. He had been there for her always; he was always trying to help his comrades. Over the past year they had grown very close, when he would leave on missions she was the first person he came to see when he got back, and she found herself doing the same. Being around him made her feel happy in a way she hadn't eve realized until the month they spent apart after the last mission.

She had spent that afternoon trying to explain things to Pakkun. Really she hadn't been talking to him, more she was talking at him. It helped her to think when she could bounce her thoughts off another person and since her thought-bouncing person was not talking to her, she wanted to bounce them off his dog.

_ 'You can't do this; you can't start getting these feelings for Kakashi.'_

The medic gave a crushed sigh, it was pointless. Every time she closed her eyes she was thinking about him. She would recall the feelings she had when he was around her, the shared moments they had in Konoha with Sai and Naruto. The times they would spend alone talking, training and playing with the ninken. Thinking about all the memories she shared with him up until the kiss in his room was like watching a river as it drifted along peacefully, only to realize it dropped off into a giant cascading waterfall right around the corner. She couldn't change it and didn't want to, but the result was a catastrophe.

She sat staring out in to the storm as it starting to get closer and the rain started to fall harder on the window. The sun had completely sunk below the horizon now and her room was dipped in darkness but for one tiny lamp at the far end of the room. Her thoughts drifted aimlessly from one topic to the next as she tried to distract herself from lingering too long on her comrade in the adjacent room.

_'How were Naruto, Hinata and Shikamaru doing in Suna? What was Tsunade doing? How much longer would they be in Tani? What would the mission to the club be like tomorrow? Were Genma and Shizune going to get married? What would Sai be doing if he was here?' _She smiled nostalgically at the thought. _'He would be painting the storm…'_ She considered his sketches back at her house and her thoughts bounced to the sketches in Sasuke's cell_. 'Sasuke…what would he think of all this? Call us all idiots probably_.'

As she gazed out into the rain, lost in her silent reverie she heard the shutting of the door next to her room. She looked down into the street and a few minutes later she watched the silhouette of the copy-ninja and tiny dog stroll out into the rain. She exhaled deeply as she watched them shift into the darkness_. 'Probably going out to scout again, without me,... again…'_

She clicked her tongue to the roof of her mouth in agitation after a few more minutes of staring into the rain. She had hoped he would come and talk to her even if it was just to scold her on the correct chain of command for the Ninken.

_'If he's going to abandon me in this stupid fluffy hotel room the least I can do is look over the mission details so far and see If we missed anything so far.'_

She got up from the window and moved across the room to flick on the light switch by the door. She didn't even get to make it half way to the door before the shadow of a pair of feet blocked the light coming from underneath her door, followed by a light knock. She frowned at the door, it was night, it was raining, Kakashi already left and Ninken didn't knock. She stared silently as the knock came again.

Sakura let her chakra move into her hand as she reached for the door and opened it, squinting as her eyes adjusted to the bright light in the hallway.

"Sakura-san, did I disturb you?"

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the dark-haired shinobi at her door, her chakra still pulsing in her ready fist. "Akino-san? What are you doing here?"

Her eyes passed over his attire, wrinkling her lip slightly in jealously, he was a flawless dresser. He had on a pair rain splattered of charcoal gray slacks and a dark red button up dress shirt, complete with tie, underneath his long black trench coat. She could not deny he was a very attractive man and he was easily six feet and had a lean muscular build_. 'Gods Ino would get a nosebleed if she saw him…'_

The kekkei-genkai user shifted uncomfortably as the pink haired women eyed him with vague hostility.

"I thought maybe you might like to go out to eat?

The medics eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "ahh…Kakashi's not here.."

" I don't want to eat with Hatake-san. I wanted to take you out."

A small uncomfortable blush started creeping toward her cheeks and she had to fight the urge to hit herself in the face as she looked down at her clothing. She was in a pair of forest green pajama pants and a black spaghetti strap tank top, no shoes, no makeup and no idea when the last time she saw a brush was.

"Umm…I don't know if that's allowed?" She gazed toward Kakashi's door and sucked in air between her clenched teeth in apprehension.

"You have to ask him before you can eat?" he stared down at her softly.

"No, it's just you're from Tani…"she trailed off not sure what would be a practical excuse.

"If your uncomfortable, let's just say that you are hungry and I am hungry and we are both going to the same place."

Her stomach growled loudly as she began thinking of food and this time she did blush and clamp a hand over her traitorous abdomen. "Sorry…um Ok just come inside and I will get changed. I don't have anything…very nice to wear though." She briefly switched her eyes to his clothing and felt inadequate in comparison.

Akino moved into the room and closed the door flicking on the light beside the door. "Whatever you wear will look lovely, I'm sure." He moved across the room to stare out into the rain that was now crashing down on the village.

Sakura stared at his back and bit her lip with anxiety. _'What am I doing? Kakashi hates this guy. He is really nice though. I don't hate him. He is helping us alot..and Kakashi's being a jerk. And at least Akino-san will talk to me. It's not a date or anything; I'm just hungry, I was going to get something to eat anyways after the rain died down. What is Kakashi going to think when he comes back and I'm gone…well it's not like he alerted me of where he was going…'_ her brain was going a million miles a second.

Akino turned around slightly and gave the nervous looking pink-haired women a small smile. "You can go in that if you like, but I would suggest proper foot-wear and a jacket."

She spun around quickly as he spoke and grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil before she rushed toward the bathroom to change clothes. She scrawled out a note that she had gone to get something to eat and shoved it under Kakashi's side of the door. He didn't tell her where he went, but she knew if he came back and didn't know where she was at the village would be crawling with Ninken within seconds.

She emerged in record time. She had donned a pair of dark blue jeans and a long sleeved black turtleneck. She usually used the shirt for when they were scouting out places at night to help stay hidden, but whatever it was multi-functional fashion. She yanked on a pair of boots and pulled her jacket around her body and ran a brush through her hair.

"See, you look very nice." His voice floated across the room as he watched her place a few kunai and other weapons throughout her clothing an appreciative smile on his face. "hmm…forever the Kunoichi uh?"

"Forever." She smiled awkwardly back at him as he moved to escort her out of the room. He led her down to the lobby of the large hotel and out of the front door. She kept her distance from him, not wanting to compromise herself by being within touching distance; this didn't need to be anything more than two mutually hungry people dinning together. She glanced up at the sky that had viciously begun raining down on Tani with a frown.

"Here…"

She looked over at Akino as he spoke. He had grabbed an umbrella from beside the door and opened it as they stepped outside. "I brought this for us."

She bit her lip as he motioned for her to move closer to him under the umbrella. She couldn't refuse that would be stupid and rude, but she didn't want to be that close. Under an umbrella was definitely close distance. She gave a small frustrated scoff and moved under the umbrella with him._ '..Shit..'_

* * *

The copy-ninja gave a frustrated scoff as he finally made it back to the hotel. " Shit.. I Should have taken an umbrella from someone before we left."

Pakkun growled at him slightly. "That wouldn't have helped me; I had to practically swim there. I don't understand why you went all the way to the other side of town."

"They had Sakura favorite food."

Kakashi shook the rain from his hair when they entered the lobby of the hotel, as the little pug did the same, much to the incredulity of the man behind the counter. The man leaned over the desk to point down at Pakkun. "Sir…no dogs in the hotel"

The silver-haired Jounin look up to the man behind the desk then down to lock on the dripping dog beside him and his eye narrowed. "He's not mine."

Pakkun stretched and gave a large yawn before glancing up at his friend. "Don't be an ass Kakashi. I just walked half-way across the world in the rain, just to keep you company."

The man behind the desk stared at the talking dog as if he lost his mind, then back up to the drenched ninja.

Kakashi gave an impudent frown. "I've told him not to cuss so much..." he shrugged helplessly he sauntered off toward his rooms, the soaked pug at his heels.

The first think Kakashi noticed when he entered his room was the note under his door. His heart sank as he read it. "Damnit, she went to get something to eat. I walked all the way across town to get her favorite food and she left before we got back."

Pakkun gave a small snort of laughter. "That's what you get for being an ass."

He sighed as he opened the bathroom and flicked the light on, his eye raked over the devastation in the bathroom. Sakura's clothes were everywhere. "What the hell was she doing in here?" The pugs nailed ticked across the tile floor as he surveyed the damage of hurricane-Sakura.

Pakkun sniffed the air slightly and moved toward the other side of the bathroom to the door that was partly cracked on the pink-haired women's side. "Hey Kakashi, someone else was here….."

Kakashi lifted the bag of food off the counter and moved to open Sakura's door. He sniffed the air lightly, the faint smell of expensive cologne, spearmint gum and testosterone made his blood run hot.

_'Akino' _

The copy-ninja stood in the doorway of her room saturating in his anger. While he was out, Akino had come and whisked off his medic to dinner, and she went. She threw her clothes all around the bathroom in a frenzy and left with him.

"Whoa Kakashi, calm down…" The little pug pleaded with his tall summoner, sensing the aggression that was churning through his veins. Kakashi was not usually a man quick to anger, but he had been extremely on edge when it came to Sakura lately and the little Ninken was afraid of the consequences of an angry copy-ninja.

_'What are they doing right now? Where did he take her? Is she laughing at his jokes? Is he impressing her with his tragic snow country past?'_

His brained flashed with images of her smiling, the way she had easily taken Akino's arms the first day they met. His imaginings got more graphic, the longer he dwelled. _Sakura leaning in to place a shy kiss the dark-haired shinobi. Akino reaching to tug her shirt off lightly, his lips trailing down her neck and shoulders as she closed her eyes in pleasure._

"Kakashi, do you want me to call the guys and find out where she is?"

The pug snapped him back in to reality as he slowly walked across the room; he took her food out of the bag and placed it on the table top roughly. "No Pakkun. Let her do whatever the hell she wants to, I don't care." He lied blatantly as he quickly turned and left the room, the door trembling on it hinges as it hurtled shut behind him.

Pakkun sighed deeply and leapt on to Sakura's bed and waited for her to return.

* * *

** A/N**

**Ahh cliff hanger!**

I had too! I'm sorry! Or else this muther would have been Gianormous.

I would say we are about...almost finished with phase 1 of 3. Maybe 30ish chaps all together? maybe more.

_Review if you hate it or if you love it or if it's ...meh..lol_

_/\_/\_

_Ninken_


	11. Detonation

Detonation

* * *

Sakura had tried to stop Akino from walking her all the way to her door, but he refused her request adamantly. Dinner had been pleasant he was a very nice man. He told her stories of the inner workings of the Daimyo that they were going to meet tomorrow and that had been helpful. But if she was being honest with herself she felt uncomfortable the entire time. He clearly had romantic intentions toward her all night; she shut them all down quickly and tactfully. The medic had no wish to further her relationship with the missing snow nin any more than what it was. She was still trying to come to grips with her inappropriate feelings toward Kakashi.

Akino was polite, diplomatic, polished and sincere during the entire meal, but she couldn't help but continue to compare him to Kakashi, who was reserved, complicated, discordant and jaded. No matter how much she dwelled on the negative parts of his personality she still found herself missing his company and wishing it was him with her instead of the Kekkei-Genkai user_. 'He would have pulled out his Icha-Icha by now, just to startle the waitress. While simultaneously getting me to pay for his dinner, by saying he had been pick-pocketed. He would have made me laugh a hundred times already and messed up my hair, all the while crinkling his stupid eye.'_

As she came to her room and unlocked the door, she opened it turning around slightly to say goodnight to Akino.

She could see it in his face. He was going to try to kiss her. _'Say something, make him stop!'_ She stared at his red shirt as he moved in closer to her, it was like a blazing red warning sign. "Akino-San…I really appreciate you taking me out to dinner." She whispered lowly not wanting to wake Kakashi if he was home yet, but wanting to distract her zealous pursuer from his current mission.

He was still leaning in too close to her as he spoke and she stepped back slightly, the door swinging open behind her. Sometimes to win a fight the best option is too run.

"You didn't even let me pay for your dinner, Sakura." He mimicked her low whisper as leaned his arm against the door frame and frowned down at the pink-haired women as she tried to make a tactful retreat.

"Well, you know…" she shrugged stepping back farther into her room. "Thanks for the invitation and walking with me there..and eating across from me..and walking me back to my door."

"Are you always so stubborn?"

She nodded biting her lip. "I do need to be clear with you. There was no romantic aspect for me this evening. I'm here in Tani to take care of something and that comes first. "

"Ok Sakura, I'll still be here after the mission though and let me be clear, I do have romantic intentions toward you. I will continue to ask you out while you are here, mission or no mission. I think you're beautiful, smart, strong and talented. Only an idiot wouldn't see that. So, If you want to continue to see me..I'll be here.." He shrugged as if to prove his nonchalance.

"Ok then, see you tomorrow Akino-san." She gave a small wave as she whispered her goodbyes unsure of what else to say_. 'Very sure of himself…'_ she thought wryly.

"Goodnight Sakura." He mouthed silently with a smile as he turned and walked away.

The pink-haired women sighed as she closed the door behind her, feeling like she had just dodged a bullet. She flipped the light switch up and noticed two things at once. The first one was the little wrinkled face dog sitting on her bed looking at her; the second was the marvelous smell of food wafting toward her from the table.

"Pakkun! What are you doing here!?"

The pug looked toward the food and her heart sank before he even explained himself.

"Me and Kakashi went out to get food, we brought you some back but you were already gone. He wanted to talk to you."

'_Oh gods I'm such an idiot… He wanted to talk and I was out with Akino..'_ Her stomach twisted in to a knot of guilt as she moved to open the box of food. _'…it's my favorite too…'_

"Pakkun I'm so sorry I saw you guys leave, I thought you were going scouting. Akino came by like five minutes later and I was hungry."

"I understand Sakura…but you need to talk to Kakashi. I don't know what's going on. He was fine when we got the note you left but got upset when he came in your room and we smelled the other person. I didn't want to leave until I told you."

She nodded quietly to the Ninken. "Ok Pakkun thanks" she said timidly.

The dog vanished in a poof the next instant leaving her alone in the room as she looked toward the door to the bathroom. She walked to the window silently looking down on the now rain-soaked streets for a long while before she worked up the courage to walk through the bathroom, over the disaster she had left strewn about in her haste to get ready and knock lightly on Kakashi's side of the door.

No noise came from the other side of the door as she stood there quietly, wondering if she should knock again.

'_Is he sleeping or just ignoring me?'_ Either way it seemed rude just to open the door. She raised her hand to knock again but paused as she heard movement on the other side of the door and she watched at the knob turned slowly. Her heart started thrumming in her chest and her breath became quicker. _'Why am I so nervous? I didn't do anything.'_

Sakura's green eyes stared openly as Kakashi opened the door slowly, and her breath caught in her lungs. He stood leaning his arm against the edge of the door to look down her, His mask was gone and so was his hitai-ate. His scared eye was shut and he stared down at her with his dark eye, heavy-lidded and sleepy. He was in a pair of black pants that hung loosely around his hips; the light from the single lit lamp in his room throwing shadows over his shoulder and along the side of his taut chest and stomach.

The pink-haired women stared up at her team-leader and felt a tight pull in the pit of her stomach. She moved her mouth to speak but no words came out so she just stared up at him_. '…oh..he's..whoa...'_ She couldn't recall what she needed to see him for, only that she was so glad to be seeing him.

Kakashi watched as Sakura fumbled for words in the dimly lit bathroom doorway, he shouldn't have answered the door. He had lain in bed for the past few hours trying to combat his irrational emotions and had almost succeeded, then he heard them both walk past his door to her room, speaking in hushed tones. The jealousy had again begun growing in his chest, trying to claw its way back out to the forefront of his emotions.

"Sakura? It's late, did you need something?" he asked trying to exude a listlessness he did not feel.

'_I did come here for something, what was it..?'_ She couldn't remember she could only think of the strong raspy tone in his voice that sent her stomach in pooling circles. The smell of his soap drifted toward her and the image of him in the shower pervaded her mind.

"um…Pakkun…" she blinked at him, her voice unsteady.

He closed his eye and leaned his head against the door, trying to cut her from his view; if he couldn't see her he wouldn't want her. If he didn't want her, he wouldn't be so pissed thinking about her on the arm of that smug bastard Akino.

It wasn't working, now he could smell her. He could even smell the faint traces of Akino's cologne that had drifted on to her as they ate. _'Did he have his arm around her? _' The image caused a new surge of jealousy to surge through his body and he inhaled deeply.

"..he's not here…"

"What..? No.."She shook her head slightly and pushed a pair of her pants she had flung around earlier across the bathroom floor with her foot as she tried to form a complete sentence. "Pakkun, he said you were mad. I'm sorry I went out; I didn't know you were getting food. I thought you left to scout again and I was hungry, Akino came by and asked me out to eat with him."

He tried to swallow down the feelings of resentment as she mentioned the dark-haired shinobi. "Sakura its fine. I don't care what you do or who you do it with." The statement came across with more spite then he had intended, but the jealousy was winning its war within him and he tried to end this before it could begin.

"I really need to sleep. I'll see you in the morning." He moved to shut the door quickly.

The fragile box the medic kept her temper in sprung a leak as her team-leader tried to cast her aside and shut the door in her face. She had kept a tight rein on her emotions the past few days, not wanting to upset the delicate balance that was holding them together. But he just tried to shut the door in her face, and she hadn't even finished her thoughts. She had walked on eggshells about their situation, allowing him his self inflicted martyrdom. And he just slammed the door in her face. She came to apologize for something she shouldn't even be sorry for and this self-righteous, emotionally detached, narcissistic, recluse had just tried to slam the door in _**her**_ face? **Was he kidding**?!

Before it could click closed, slammed her hand into the door and caused it to fly backward in to the wall with a loud crash. The Jounin man watched the door shudder under the assault of the pink-haired women and turned his tense gaze back on her.

"What the hell Kakashi!? I came here to thank you and explain… and you slam the door in my face?!

The copy-ninja felt his cool façade crumbling away in the wake her anger. "Sakura, It's** my** door I can shut it when I want, if you're in the way that's not my problem." He clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes at her. His voice was low and threatening_._

She snarled angrily at him as she too tried to keep her voice down, but it shook with anger. "Is that what your issue is? You think I'm in the way?!

"That's not what said, don't put words in my mouth—"

"That is what you said Kakashi!" She stepped up to him her voice becoming louder and more irate as he argued with her.

He leaned back and gave her a callus stare. "No Sakura** that** right there…**That** is my problem!…You jump to conclusions and do things without thinking!"

The flood gates came crashing down when he attacked her decision-making skills. The entire hotel could hear for all she cared. "I jump to conclusions!? I do things without thinking?!. We kissed! I was confused! And now you're acting like I don't exist! What the hell else am I suppose to do?! For days you have ignored me**. Days Kakashi!** And I didn't say** anything**. I go to get something to eat with a person that will** actually talk to me**, and your acting like I just turned rouge?!"

She wanted to hit him, she wanted throw something at him. How dare he try to make this all her fault.

Kakashi moved up to her until he was only a few away and leaned down, frustration twisting his face. His tone was condescending; it was one of the first times she had ever heard him yell. The creature made of desire, jealousy, and rage had finally climbed out of his chest and he turned all those emotions on the women in front of him.

"Oh well** poor** **you Sakura**! Your feelings are hurt and confused?! **So you jump all over the first man who smiled in your direction**!? Did you have a good time wi-"

He didn't even get a chance to finish his one-sided rant. She inhaled sharply at the accusations in his voice. Wrath possessed her, chakra zipped down her arm and into her fist in a split second; she leaned back and aimed a right hook toward his un-masked face. "**Jump on the first man**?!" she screamed.

Kakashi grabbed her arm as she tried to hit him, stepping back to absorb the powerful punch. Anger was still coursing through his veins powerfully, his heart pounding in his chest. _'She tried to hit me.'_

"Sakura!-" He yelled her name in a commanding tone trying to get her back to her senses.

The medic didn't hear him over the sound of her outrage. As he was distracted with her right hand and his own anger, her left fist connected high up on his left cheek bone with a resounding crack, his head snapped to the right with the impact of the hit, but he kept holding her right arm in the air.

Silence engulfed the room.

Kakashi stared at the floor for a second as he blinked back the effects of the ruthless blow he had just been dealt by his subordinate. He shifted his gaze back her, his jaw clenched in fury.

Sakura tried to rip her arm from his grip but he only tightened it and grabbed her left arm, pushing her up against the wall roughly pinning her arms at her side.

"Get out of my room Sakura. Now" His voice was a low and trembling.

"Don't you ever talk about me like that again! How dare you! So I went to dinner with Akino? I would have rather been with you the entire time but you can't even **look** at me! " She growled out through clenched teeth.

The copy-ninja stared down at her as she admitted to her feelings. His own guilt flickered across his face, along with the dull throb of pain from where she punched him. "Sakura-"

"Kakashi let me go…" she pushed against his hands with the arms he had pinned to the wall.

He swallowed hard as he watched her look up at him, her features a mixture of hurt, betrayal and anger. His own emotions were out of control, and he couldn't get any of them back into place. Seconds ago he was a wrathful monster, now all he felt was a strong stirring of desire. He wanted to comfort the women that had almost just knocked him out, tell her it would be ok and that he was sorry. "Sakura, we need to talk."

**"That's** what I came here for and you—" she said her voice a forceful whisper

"Um, excuse me sir. There were complaints of noise and yelling coming from this room, is everything alright?" asked a timid voice from beyond the closed-door to the hallway.

The Jounin look to the stubborn faced women he had pinned against the wall and released her quietly stepping back to give her room.

Sakura set her jaw as she let her anger begin to rise again. How could he do that? How could he tell her he didn't care, scream at her, impugn her honor and then ask her to talk?

"Hello, um I need to check and make sure everything is ok. If someone doesn't answer the door I'm going to have to open it." said the meek voice on the other side of the door.

They both turned to look at the door and then back at each other. Kakashi's eyes pleading with Sakura silently to wait.

The kunoichi had enough. She flung her hands in the air silently, whispering her quiet answers to his pleading looks. "**No**...I'm going to sleep. I can't deal with **you** or **this**..." She motioned rapidly between herself and him. "..right now.."

"Sakura—"

"No. It's late we have a long day tomorrow Kakashi. Get the door; I'll talk to you when we are both calmer."

He watched as she again left him standing outside a door as she retreated back to her own room.

* * *

The sun smeared itself across the gray rain filled clouds that still loomed over Tani, unaware of the two exhausted shinobi that blinked at the filtered light it sent through their separate rooms.

Kakashi's night did not go well. After apologizing to the Hotel manager about the noise, he had lain in bed and did his best at not getting any sleep at all. The side of his face that had made contact with Sakura's chakra wrapped fist of justice did not allow him any comfort. The thoughts of the heated argument they had did not offer him any peace. The feeling of guilt he felt both for the way he acted last night, and the intense inappropriate situation he had put them both him did not sooth his troubled mind.

As the clock on his bed told him it was now half past ten in the morning he slid out of bed and pulled on his uniform_. 'Good thing I got a lot of rest, I have a long day today.'_ He mused ironically as he thought of the last words she said to him. He winced sharply as he pulled his mask up over his face and stared into the mirror above the dresser in his room. _'..a black eye..wonderful.'_

Sakura's night was full of muffled tears and anger. She was mad at herself for confronting Kakashi in such a way. Pissed at him for the way he tried to push her away and pretend he didn't care. Furious with herself because she was so hurt by the thought of him not caring, he shouldn't care and she shouldn't care that he didn't care. But she did and she knew he was lying about it too.

When she heard the muted sounds of movement from beyond the large bathroom she rolled out of her bed and began to dress. At twenty past eleven a light knock sounded on her door and she knew it was him, come to get her so they could continue with their mission. She didn't want to answer the door, didn't was to face him. _'..and this is why…you don't get involved with teammates…'_

She tucked a few scrolls into her flak vest and moved across the room to open her door. She made herself look him in the eye as she left the room to move to his side.

They stood in an awkward silence watching each other. The kind of silence that can only happen when two people know they were both wrong and neither knows how to move forward. Like trying to get the crazy cat back in the bag once you've let it out, it's out and it's never going back in, so you might as well just get use to the noises it makes.

"Ok, let's go search the merchant house over on Shipwright lane. Most of the people should be out by now." Kakashi muttered the already common knowledge because he had nothing else to say. He wanted to apologize and talk to her, but they had a job to do and that came first.

Sakura looked him over, her keen eye quickly leaping to the darkened bruise on his face, a stone of guilt dropped her stomach.

The ferocious beast of a temper she now had in check however, taunted him quietly from the back of her mind. It reveled in the fact that she put a physical repercussion to his outlandish claims. She deliberated between both sides of her brain, the prideful, angry half and the caring, guilty half. They both had a point. She had hurt him, but he so deserved it.

* * *

They made their way across town to the merchant house they had been watching along with the other two. All three of the offices had turned up nothing so this was the next step. They had taken in all aspects of security over the past few days and were confident they could get in without drawing attention to themselves. With the task at hand in front of them, all personal issues drifted away like leaves on a fall breeze.

The ever darkening sky was a blessing to help along their covert mission. They both slid silently up into the trees that spread across the huge yard up to the impressive residence. The two shadows traveled lightly through the branches passing over the heads of several civilian guards that were posted at various entry ways. No doubt they didn't think any high-caliber shinobi would be paying them a visit anytime soon. They made their way to the tree that was nestled on the corner of the large estate, near a bathroom window the wife always seemed to leave open in the morning, this morning way no different.

When they both dropped silently into the quiet tiled room Kakashi began forming the signs and quickly shifted into the henge of the guard that was positioned by the side entrance. Sakura followed in suite, her features twisting in to that of the guard by the back gate. They just needed to make it the short trip down the east wing of the building and up to the third floor to what seemed to be the merchants home office.

The walk to the office went off without hitch; they only encountered one lowly maid that hardly raised her eyes at the two men strolled by her confidently past her. After a brief pause outside the door the lock tumbled aside and the leaf ninja entered the ostentatious room. It was thickly decorated with giant chairs and heavy furniture and dark curtains, portraits of pretentious looking people scowled down at the shinobi accusingly.

Keeping on the guises they began scouring the room for records. After forty minutes of searching in vain, looking through books, files and papers Sakura found a suspiciously clean statue on the top row of short dusty bookshelf. All the other items on the shelf had a fine layer of natural dust; this medium-sized cherry wood carving of a three mast shipping vessel was inexplicably clean. She narrowed her eyes at the ship and touched it lightly, sending a small puff of chakra through it. Nothing happened. She frowned and moved to grab it off the shelf; it tipped forward in a top-heavy manner and clicked loudly, a small painting of the same ship above the bookshelf at her eye level popped lightly away from the wall.

Kakashi was at her side instantly, pulling at the painting on the wall, it swung open like a door on hinges and the both stared inside at a small wooden box.

"Bingo…got it" The copy-ninja whispered excitedly to as he reached to pull the box away from it slot.

"whoa..what's that..?" The kunoichi stared at the box wide-eyed

"…what is this…?"

Kakashi stared down at the cheap looking box that had a high level seal saturated into the top of it keeping the box closed.

He sucked in a air through his teeth as he stared at the box deep in thought. "I can break this…and I can put it back on..but if whoever set this see's it they will know somebody messed with it.."

The medic chewed her lip quietly in thought as he spoke. "ok..well we need in that box..I'll look out, you do it."

He nodded as she moved away to stand by the door. He dropped to his knees and placed the box in front of him, pulling up his Hitai-ate to stare at the box with his sharingan, memorizing the pattern of the seal.

Twenty five minutes later the seal disappeared and the box slid open. The two Konoha nin stared at a plain red notebook that sat inside the heavily guarded box. The silver-haired Jounin reached in and plucked it from his cozy little cell and flipped it open and sighed deeply, nothing was ever easy.

"This is in code…I have no idea what this says."

Sakura crouched next to him her shoulder bumping his as she stared down at the notebook.

"hmm…I've never seen that before."

Kakashi's mind flitted away from mission mode as her scent bounced into him and he shook his head at the thought of the very masculine not-sakura beside him smelling like fresh rain showers.

The not-Sakura put her hand by his face and snapped her fingers, pulling him back in to reality.

"Hey copy-ninja…" she pointed to his Sharingan. "..Copy. If you can copy it..we can re-write it out later..maybe Shikamaru can help in Suna ." She stared at him, irritated he would forget the obvious.

Kakashi scoffed at himself for not thinking of that sooner and activated his Sharingan, quickly flipping through the pages, his red-eye locking everything away.

After another ten minutes with the book and twenty minutes putting the seal back on the box as best he could Kakashi stood up slowly and put the box back in the wall and click the painting shut behind it.

"Ok..we got something here, we just don't know what yet."

"Let's get out of here, we have been here for way too long.." Sakura pleaded nervously as she eyed the clock on the wall. It was almost four now.

They both quietly left the room, locking it behind them and made their way back to the bathroom, out the window, through the trees and off the property. They walked nonchalantly across the street and down the road out of sight of the residence before relaxing slightly.

Sakura nudged him slightly on the ribs as they continued to walk side by side, extremely pleased that they had gotten something in the form of a solid lead.

Kakashi smiled down at her and ruffled her hair. They had both briefly forgotten their past transgressions in the light of success.

The medic glanced up at her team-leader with a smile and her gaze fell to his darkened eye and her emotion turmoil came flying back from the recesses of her mind. She reached her hand up lightly to cover his black-eye and withdrew it seconds later as the bruised area disappeared. She slammed her eyes forward as soon as she she was done, not wanting to look at him as she remembered his acusations from the night before_. 'Can't let him go to the club tonight with a giant black eye, even if he deserves it.'_

Kakashi watched as her demeanor reverted back to the sullen women he had left the hotel with this morning and sighed inwardly. _'At least we still work together well'_

The Jounin looked up into the drizzling rain letting it patter lightly against his masked face before he looked back down on the women beside him. "We should get to Kobiyashi's. He said to be there early to get ready to go to Swift River tonight."

"Ok…"

They walked in silence across town toward Karu Kobiyashi's expansive Tea-house and home.

* * *

As they approached the side door Kobiyashi told them to use, the kunoichi watched Kakashi step in front of her, pulling his hands from his pockets to knock on the door. A pang of fear crept in to her throat. She didn't want to leave things like this. They needed to be ok. She reached forward and snagged the arm of his long sleeved shirt. He turned his head back to look at her curiously. _'Gods just let this go ok'_

"Kakashi, I want to talk…"

The masked mans hesitated before the door and turned to face her. "Ok Sakura, let's talk." His heart was threatening to jump out of his throat with nerves but he was resigned to keep control over his emotions this time. _'I just want us to be ok again'_

The door creaked open behind Kakashi and the subservient waiter from the first day greeted them, unaware of the intrusion he had just caused.

"Haruno-san and Hatake-san, Kobiyashi-san has been expecting you. If you could please both follow me."

The pink-haired women's eyes clouded with trepidation_. 'no..I need to talk to him now..'_

The copy-ninja watched the fear and anxiety creep over his comrade's face and he reached forward to rest his hand on her shoulder, giving her a reassuring squeeze and a smile. "It's ok Sakura; I promise we will talk later."

She relaxed at his promise and stepped to follow the retreating waiter in to the house with him, resisting the urge to reach out and take his hand in hers.

* * *

"No. You don't wear it like that." Karu frowned harshly at the silver-haired man before him for the millionth time.

"It's choking me, it too tight."

"It's a tie Kakashi, not a noose."

"Kobiyashi-san, is everything ok?" The copy-ninja had been dealing with the business man all afternoon. He was being sullen, quick to anger and reserved, not his usual exuberant self.

Karu glanced over toward the concerned sound of the leaf Jounin's voice and shook his head dismissively. "I just don't want you to screw this up, and these guys always make a mess of my club." He motioned for one of the other men in the room to help the sloppy shinobi again with his tie.

"I need to check on Sakura."

Kakashi sighed as he was again choked with the too tight tie. He hadn't seen Sakura since they had parted ways after Kobiyashi treated them to an elaborate meal when they arrived. If he had known the man wanted to waste three hours over a meal, he would have come much, much later. It seemed completely ridiculous to go through these lengths just to impress some haughty Daimyo's son and his cronies in the hopes they would talk.

He had been forced to shower and shave (for what reason he didn't know cause the mask came right back on) and then change into the clothes Karu had picked out for him. At least they weren't hideous. Except the tie, he hated ties.

For all that he hated what was being required for him to do, he felt like he had gotten off easy. He had heard Sakura's disbelieving scream, followed by the words "No way!" about an hour ago and could only imagine what cosmetic terror had been inflicted upon her.

* * *

The pink haired women stared at herself in the mirror. She had to admit it looked pretty amazing, Karu did have exceptional taste and knew just how to dress her.

"Sakura, are you almost ready?!" Karu called as he entered the room and made his way to where she was standing.

"No not really."

"You haven't even fixed your hair! What have you been doing?!"

She shot him a venomous look. "You barged in here when I was naked and, and then you threw this dress and these shoes at me! It took some time for me to figure out how to put it all on! AND! I don't know what to do with my hair! "

"Well do you know how to do make-up?" he deadpanned in an annoyed tone.

She frowned at the man as he crossed his arms over his chest. He had been acting strange all day. "Karu, are you upset about something, you're not being yourself today. Where is Akino I haven't seen him either?"

A brief stab of panic stole across the man's face before he shook his head. "You got me. I'm sorry Sakura. I'm just worried because Akino left this morning to try to settle some issues happening with one of my stores near Suna."

She tilted her head slightly as she listened to him. "What kind of problems? Do you need help?"

"No no no. It's fine I've got a partner that runs the store, Akino is just going to help." He waved his hand at her dismissively. "I'll get someone in here to help you, but it's so late now. If I knew you were going to sit around for hours eating before getting ready-."

"I hardly ate anything, and it was your idea." she defended hotly.

"Well Kakashi ate everything. Ok, I need to go before it gets much later. They will be upset if I'm not there to greet them early, you get finished getting ready. I'll take Kakashi with me and let him mingle with everyone with me."

She shook her head defiantly. "No, I need to go too; I need to be there to meet them all with you. What if they don't want to talk to me because I arrive too late?"

Karu let his eye fall over the pink-haired women and pointed to her reflection in the mirror with a sad smile. "Sakura, they are all going to want to talk to you. Trust me."

She glanced at reflection and blushed lightly at his words. "Ok, I won't be long"

Karu was already at the door ordering people to help the Kunoichi get ready faster. "Hurry up and Tsutachi will escort you there when you're all ready. Don't take too long."

* * *

Kakashi had refused to leave with Kobiyashi as he told him of the plans to leave Sakura behind. He didn't want to go without her, not after she tried so hard to talk to him. He needed her by his side.

He tugged on his tie for the thousandth time and marched across the hallway to bang on the door to the room where she was getting ready.

"Sakura, come on."

He could hear her voice muffled through the walls as she responded.

Kobiyashi stood behind him urging him to hurry up and leave with him before they were too late and got off on the wrong foot before they could begin.

"Kakashi just go with Karu! Lay down the foundations for us, make us seem interesting and mysterious."

He rolled his eyes at her words. He was wearing a mask and covering his eye, how much more mysterious did she want. "Sakura—"

"Kakashi, just go! We don't need to offend them we need to impress them. I'm right behind you if I'm not there twenty minutes after you get there, come back and get me but Go Now!

He sighed dramatically and turned to Karu who was standing impatiently behind him. "Ok. Lead they way."

* * *

The copy-ninja looked up at the round building that loomed before him, the back-drop of the Tani waterfalls making it seem vaguely fantastical and he had to admit to Kobiyashi's business like mind. If you want to build a wild-looking night club that draws everyone's attention, this was it. The deep thrumming of bass spilling out onto the street from behind the thick doors and walls as they approached it. Kobiyashi's nervousness seemed to grow exponentially the closer they got to the club. A long line of hopeful people stood in a line being approved or sent away by a man in expensive looking clothing.

They both paused at the door and looked themselves over for any sign of mud or unsightly problem with their clothes, mostly Kobiyashi looked them both other. Mostly Kakashi leaned his head back and tugged at his tie again in discomfort.

The club owner nodded to the men at the front door who bowed acquiescently to him and pulled the door open.

They entered the night club or more like the night club entered them. The stepped into the circular building and the silver-haired man's eye brow shot up as he took in the experience that was Swift River.

The building's round exterior was mirriored on the inside. The dimly lit club flashed different colors as lights flickered from the rafters. The layout was cylindrical consisting of two circular floors stacked on top of each other. A large hallway extended around edge of the rounded dance floor and bar area, allowing patron's access to the upper levels by two ramps that wrapped around the center area. The wall that separated the hallway from the center was broken up by clear panes of thick glass that seemed to have water trickling and spilling down the inside of them.

The upper floor was a rounded dance area with one bar shoved into the wall toward the back of the building. Tables, chairs and couches lined the outer wall on the top floor. The broken panes of glass connected together and formed a large clear water-fall type barrier that stretched to the roof to keep the club-goer from dropping off the sides down on to the people below, effectivly ruing their night.

The bottom floor was an open area, a bar circled the dance floor and was nestled up against the broken wall that separated it from the hallway, two lardge gaps in the inner wall allowed access to the outer halway and the entry to the upper floor. Music slammed loudly all around club bouncing off the walls and causing at slightly disorienting effect at first.

The Jounin looked toward Kobiyashi curiously. This did not seem like the type of place the frivolous man would enjoy. This club reeked of hedonism and debauchery.

Karu leaned in toward the copy ninja as he recognized the look of surprise on his face and shrugged. "Its business. River has tons of traffic passing through it from different countries. Give them a night-club they have never seen before and next time they will bring all their friends." He practically had to yell to be heard over the music. He motioned toward the top floor to a group of people that could be seen throught the blurry man-made waterfall barrier, lounging on the chairs and couches. "The Daimyo's son is up there with his closest people."

Kakashi peered toward the group and frowned. They looked like very self-important group of men as they raked their eyes over the woman around them with covetous glances. He suddenly didn't want Sakura anywhere near this place. He motioned to the throbbing mass of people in the club. "Who are all these people?" he cocked his head in the club owner's direction speaking loud enough to be heard.

Karu shrugged. "Whoever they approve for the night. His own people, people from Tani, people passing through. He rents the place for the night and lets in whoever he wants and turns away those he doesn't. Well, his men outside do it for him they let in pretty people, rich people, people of influence."

Kobiyashi stepped forward to push his way throw the mass of gyrating bodies on the bottom floor toward the bar and quickly had two drinks handed to him. He proffered one to the wary copy-ninja, who eyed the drink suspiciously.

Kobiyashi frowned at him. "You're just here checking out the club for Konoha tonight, relaxing a little even." The man eyed him pointedly reminding him of the cover for being in Tani.

The silver haired man took the drink and sipped it lightly through his mask and followed Karu as he made his way around the edge of the bar toward an opening to the outer hall that lead to the ramps to the upper floor. He grimaced at the noise, the people and the smell of alcohol that was sinking into his senses.

_'I hate it here…Where is Sakura?'_

He shuffled out-of-the-way of a scantily clad pair of women that honed in on him and tried to entice him to join their party of what looked to him like fore-play set to the quick beat of music instead of dancing. But the whole club was like that, people where drinking, touching, rubbing, caressing and moving against each other to the pound of the over powering music. _'Its kinda like that part of Icha-Icha. Where the hero has to go save the kidnapped women from being forced to strip at the sex club.'_ He frowned disheartened, for some reason the real life thing wasn't as exciting as it was in the books. He had really liked that part of the book.

He looked toward the Daimyo's son and his group as they rounded the corner to the top floor. The pack of confident men nodded in recognition toward Karu as he approached and then let there eyes travel to the tall silver-haired masked man beside him, unsure of what to make of him. Kakashi felt a surge of pride at his ability to confuse even the most self-assured people.

They weren't glaring at him and that was a step in the right direction._ 'Now, to play the game.'_

Kobiyashi bowed lightly and Kakashi did the same as they approached the group of men. Pleasentries were sifted through precisely and appropriately as Karu introduced the Copy-ninja, explaining his reason for the shinobi joining him at to the club for the night.

The Daimyo's son, Yakiro Saicho smiled underhandedly as he looked over the silver-jounin's appearance. He was a few inches shorter the Kakashi and had a head full of light brown hair that fell past his ears. He reminded Kakashi of a strange gangly-looking water bird.

"So you are Kakashi Hatake? I have heard of you. You're not very popular in some circles you know?"

Kakashi sipped his drink absently and shrugged exuding his usual cool attitude. "Some circles aren't popular with me."

This caused the group of men to laugh heartily.

_'Got 'em. That was easy.._' He thought to himself with smug satisfaction. These types of men were easy enough, they had big ego's and they pandered to other big ego's. If he acted like he didn't care about them. They would wonder why not. _'Act like you don't want it and they give it to you to prove you wrong.'_

He was quickly brought into conversation with them all as they all sat down on the couches against the wall. The talk was trivial at best, politics, money and women. He needed to get some of them alone to narrow the conversation to a direction he could work with.

**"**Whoa Siacho-san, check this one out! I found a girl for you!" called an excited voice from a man that was leering down at the dance floor.

Yakiro moved over toward the spot where his friend stood and followed his gaze. "Oh shit. Who is that?"

Kakashi curiously got up to see what they were looking at and his stomach dropped like a ton of bricks, his drink halfway to his face.

"That's my team-mate." he answered with a reserve he did not feel.

* * *

**A/N**

When I was writing about Swift River I was listenting to 'Molly by Cedric Gervais' it was sorta the insparation to the club scence. Only I added circles and water lol. You can look at the video on youtube, but warning it is rated M for mature. lol. Swift River is less escstasy-triping-orgy-fest in my mind then that video P

I hope I explained the lay out of the club well enough. It was difficult for me to do.

Two doughnuts. Bottom doughnut from center streching out is. Dancefloor-Bar-Wall/water fall glass- Hallway with the ramps wraping to the top doughnut.

Top Doughnut from outside streaching in Wall of the building, linded with tables, chairs and such- Dancefloor around the circle-Full clear waterfull barrier to the ceiling- Center is empty space looking down at bottom dance floor- A Single bar area pushed up against the exterior wall.

I looks real cool in my head. ^_^ I want to go there. You guys wanna go with me? lol

Sorry if its more shabbily editied than usual, If I dont post it now I wont have time till tues. Mine and my daughters birthday are this weekend and I'm swamped with stuff to do.

Big Plans next chap


	12. Deceit

Deceit

* * *

The medic stood at the edge of the lower level of Swift River scanning the sybaritic dance floor with a cool gaze. Mission mode had taken over as she entered the den of depravity that now engulfed her senses. She felt naked under the numerous glances that were cast her way but refused to shrink before them, no matter how uncomfortable she felt. She knew what they were looking at, and welcomed the avaricious stares if it would help her get close to someone of note.

Her eyes traveled along the walls that seemed alive with spilling water, the multi colored laser lights reflected off the thick glass and bounced around the club, adding to the close quartered chaos. She stopped her search when a shock of silver hair on top of a blurry mask was vaguely made out through the spilling water. Her heart stuttered in her chest as she made out a small two-fingered wave in her direction. He was watching her_. 'Unless there is some other masked guy with silver hair here.' _

The pink-haired women cast about for the way upstairs and saw a sign on a gap in the wall across the room. She would have to brave the sea of lust filled bodies to get to where she needed to go. _'Mission accepted.' _She thought dryly as she plastered on her best smile and let herself be sucked into the crowd.

The temperature in the crowd was considerably higher than against the wall where she had been. She let out a small breathless laugh against her will as someone pulled her in a tight circle with them, wrapping their arm around her waist and dragging her in close. She broke away from the stranger, he didn't seem to even notice, and just took up the next closest body they could find.

The rapid tempo of the song increased and another stranger slid beside her, whether on purpose or just from the frenzied atmosphere she didn't know. The new stranger put a light hand across her back to her shoulders and started moving their hips against her in time with the music. She wanted to dodge away but she knew Kakashi was up there with their targets, watching her and she could work this angle. She was a kunoichi after all.

'_Get their attention.'_

It was one of the reasons Tsunade had sent her along with Kakashi, she was a shinobi but also a women. If he couldn't get them to talk, she would.

She closed her eyes and let the music sweep her away. She laid one hand on her unknown dancing partner's shoulder and let her other hand fall to her side. She dropped her head back with a small smile, his leg sliding slightly between her own as they moved together to the slamming bass of the quick music. A tiny voice in the back of her brain wondered at what her team-leader was thinking as he gazed down at her from above.

Thirty seconds, that was it before she again moved away from her dancing friend. That was all she could really stand. She had never felt particularly sexy during her life, sometimes if she wore a certain outfit or was in a very strange mood maybe she felt a little sexy. Right now in this club, the group of people upstairs with Kakashi watching her every movement, she did feel sexy.

She had never danced like that anywhere except in the quiet of her own house or in her shower. She had to admit maybe it had happened a few times when she and Ino had a few too many drinks in her apartment, and decided to have a sexy dance off, that would end in fits of drunken laughter, but never in a crowded club with bodies pressed up against her from all sides.

It didn't hurt that this dress added about fifty million confidence points to her ego. She would have never picked it out or been able to afford it. Seeing herself in the mirror before she left the tea-house, she had never felt so confident in anything she had ever worn, besides her uniforms.

She broke through the crowd to the other side of the dance floor, the cool air that was missing in the mass of bodies hitting her comfortingly.

'_Ok, now upstairs.'_

She allowed herself a minute in the hallway to compose herself, straighten her dress, fix her hair, and make sure none of the small weapons had slipped from their firm placement in the little areas of her dress before she took her time navigating in the impressive high-heels up the swirling ramp to the top floor.

The pink haired kunoichi rounded the corner and searched the much less crowed area for where she had seen the blurry image that had seemed like Kakashi. Butterflies shot through her stomach in a very distressful way as she laid eyes on her team-leader. He looked so handsome, but so Kakashi. _'Kobiyashi could definitely take up fashion make over's if he ever needed another line of employment.' _

Her comrade was wearing a well-fitting pair of black slacks and a belt that accented his trim waist. A deep blue long-sleeved button up shirt was tucked in to the waist of the pants giving definition to his chest that was usually kept secret by his flak vest. He of course had his mask on; his Hitai-ate had been replaced with a plain thin strip of black cloth that bore no insigna. His hair was unkempt as usual but fell down more without the support of the thick Konoha headband. He had on a tie but apparently did not agree with it, because the knot was pulled down a few inches and hung loose, tilted to the side. His harrowing attempts at escaping the tie also result in the unbuttoning of the two top buttons. He somehow managed to look cultured, rebellious, charming and dangerous without even trying. _'How does he do that?'_

* * *

Kakashi had held his breath for longer then he could count as he laid eyes on his brave little medic while she stood looking around the dance floor for him. The group of men that had moved to stare down at her with him immediately stopped what he was sure would be a vulgar break down of all Sakura's physical attributes as soon as he told them who she was. That didn't stop them from staring and he couldn't blame them.

She was dressed in a creamy white dress that sat a few inches above the middle of her thighs, displaying the tight fit legs that only came from vigorous training. The bottom left of the dress started in a deep crimson and spread up across her body, fading from red to pink and into the white. It looked like the bottom corner to her right hip had been carelessly dipped in paint. The dress lightly hugged the contours of her and hung off only her right shoulder, leaving the other bare and exposed. The back of the dress swooped low to below the middle of her back, and she had on a pair of tall white heels opened at the toe on her feet.

Her hair had been tended too and he knew it was not by Sakura herself. She often complained to him in passing that she never had any idea of what or how to take care of it other than washing it. It framed her face in a very alluring way he couldn't comprehend and was littered with ringlets throughout. He wanted to run his hands through it, then over her exposed shoulder and down the small curve of her could still remember how her hips felt in his hands and his fingers flexed abesently at the memory. She looked incredible; the ensemble gave life to the powerful she was known for, but with a definite femininity.

He caught her gaze as she squinted in his direction. Had she seen him staring at her? Well everyone was. He raised his hand to wave at her to prove he was who she thought he was. The copy-ninja watched as she slipped through the ranks of debaucherous dancers. His eye twitch with covetousness as he saw a man swing her around in a brief circle, he could see the amused smile on her face. She abandoned her twirling acquaintance and continued toward the entrance she was aiming for.

She was stopped again. After years of working alongside her and being around her, he spotted the split second hesitation in her movements. His chest was filled with two equal but separate emotions as he watched Sakura accept the man's physical invitation to dance with him. He was proud of her for using this tactic to gain the attention of the men around him. She was thinking like a shinobi. He was also itching to rip that man's head off of his shoulders as he slid his leg between his medic's thighs.

A few of the men in the group sucked in a sharp breath at the site of his pink-haired teammate rolling her hips in to her dancing partner with a care free smile on her face. Her plan to garner their attention had worked and he wasn't sure how happy that made him. _'Nice Sakura, now I won't be able to get them off of you.'_

She was lost from sight as she left the crowd behind and traveled to the hallway and up the ramp. The entire group watched the entrance they knew she would come from with bated-breath.

Sakura emerged from the opening and the copy-ninja felt the need to grab a jacket and cover her up. He could feel the lust seeping from his companions as they traced their lecherous eyes over her body. Instead he crossed the floor to approach his medic; smiling down at her she grimaced in self-consciousness at him, and made an awkward movement to smooth her dress to show him she was not accustom with what she was wearing.

He leaned close to her ear so she could hear him over the music_. _"Nice show down there, Sakura. They're all going to want to talk to you instead of me now."

She had to smother the shiver that crept down the side of her neck as she listened to him jokingly reprimand her. She quirked the corner of her mouth up in a lop-sided smile. "No way, you look so handsome in your tie." She reached her hand out and pulled on the abused garment that dangled around his neck.

Kakashi felt a very emasculating flutter in his stomach as she reached for his tie and tugged on it, while also calling him handsome_. 'Did I just get butterflies? No..butterflies are for women..men get..' _He furrowed his brow in thought as he turned from her, holding a hand out to gesture toward the group he had been standing with. _'men get …wasps or bats... that's more manly.'_ He had to control his face before he rolled his eyes at his thought process. What the hell was wrong with him?

They approached the group of men including the Daimyo's son and all eyes trained on the pink-haired new comer.

"This is my team-mate Haruno, Sakura" he spoke politely, laying a hand gently on her shoulder as he did so, but removing it quickly afterwards.

"Haruno…Haruno..Sakura…Where do I know that name from?" Yakiro questioned her with a curious gaze.

Sakura smiled brightly toward the man. "I'm not sure where you heard it Saicho-san, but I'm the Hokages apprentice. Maybe that is where."

One of the other men stepped up suavely and handed Sakura a drink from the bar which she took graciously.

The daimyo's son pursed his thin lips in thought as he raked his eyes over her again. "Maybe that is it."

Sakura looked around her surroundings, performing a brief search before speaking up. "Where's Kobiyashi-san?'

The men around her frowned as they too preformed the same search of their surroundings she just did, coming to the same results. Karu was not there.

Kakashi walked over to peer down to the lower level and shrugged, not seeing the club owner anywhere. _'Was I really that distracted?'_ he mentally rebuked himself.

"Ahh he probably went to go make sure everything is ok outside or something" Yakiro offered dismissively. "He has to make sure this place lives up to my standards tonight."

Kakashi almost rolled his eyes again, this time at the confident man's comments. "Yes he probably is taking care of some business." He agreed.

Sakura bit her lip in remorse; she had wanted him to see her all dressed up. She sipped from her drink and then aimed a harsh gaze at it. It tasted wonderful. How dare it. The first time she finds a drink she actually likes drinking, and she can't have a lot because she's in the middle of gathering Intel.

As she dared the alcoholic beverage to taste that good a second time a light touch at her elbow caused her to turn her head toward one of the blonde haired men in the group that smiled kindly at her.

"Haruno-san would you like to sit?" he motion toward a small table.

She paused and flicked her eyes to Kakashi, who was engaged in a conversation about imports and trading taxes with Yakiro and some other of the men. They were grouped together tightly to hear over the loud thrum of the music. An almost imperceptible raise of his right eyebrow, hidden under the pretense of adjusting the cloth by his eye told her to go for it, he was watching.

She plastered her smile back on her face as she let herself be whisked away to the table with the blonde man.

* * *

An hour with the group from upstairs and the two Konoha shinobi had spoken, at least briefly with several members of the ever-increasing haughty group of men and women that surrounded the Daimyo's son and his precession. Kakashi's eye frequently darted over to keep tabs on his comrade, who was acquiring quite the fan club of talkative men. He had to admit that Tsunade's decision to send her along seemed conducive to gaining any information they could. They couldn't stop themselves from trying to win her favor fast enough.

The monster he had grudgingly admitted to naming jealousy, growled softly every time he saw one of the men smoothly lay a hand on her shoulder or stand too close_. 'It's just a mission, she is doing this to gain trust and gather Intel.'_ The beast named jealously snorted at his justifications, the pink-haired women belong to him.

The club was full to bursting now and even the upstairs dance floor was a pulsating a mass of moving bodies.

Saicho who was standing a few feet from the copy-nin indulging two women in light chatter lifted his hand to flag down an ever-present waitress. After a few words she nodded and disappeared.

Kakashi raised his eye brow as the Daimyo's son strolled toward him with the two women in tow.

"Hatake-san, come on, let's enjoy the night." Saicho said with a smile, nodding to one of the voluptuous women at his side.

Kakashi gave an eye-crinkling smile as he tried to think of a way out of this situation. He didn't want a random women clinging to him as he made his way around the club.

The copy-ninja was stopped from searching for excuses as three waitresses approached them, all carrying round trays full of shots.

"Wonderful." Saicho gave a small smile to the lead waitress and motioned toward the table Sakura sat at a few strides away with her group of 'friends.' "Take them over there."

The masked man gave a questioning look toward the Daimyo son who only smiled and motioned for Kakashi to follow. He begrudgingly walked over to the table where Sakura sat. A women, a tall curvy blonde who introduced herself, as the daughter of someone important he had never heard of, from somewhere he had never heard, attached herself to him as he stood by the table. He sighed inwardly at the tall blonde leech that slid her hand through his arm. He had just spoken a few friendly words to her earlier and clearly she had set her sights on him for the evening. _'So much for the no random clinger plan…'_ He glued a smile on his face as he looked down at her.

Sakura glanced up from the table she had been sitting at as the three waitresses approached with an extreme amount of alcohol. She gave a wide-eyed stare at all the shot glasses and laughed lightly.

"I hope that's not all for me."

A smug feeling nestled in her chest as the men around her laughed along. They were so eager to notch their beds with tales of a night with the Hokage's apprentice; she could have asked them for almost anything and gotten it. She had already gleaned some interesting information, but she needed to talk to Kakashi if she was going to pursue the topic any farther.

Yakiro pushed through the large group that had gathered around the table, and held up his hand. "We're here to have a good time. Let's get started!" He grabbed three shot glasses and put them on the table. "For being good enough to be here." he took one of the shots. "For having a great time tonight." he did the second shot. "and to the morning, when you regret it all.." He did the third shot.

He motioned for everyone in the group to do the same and Sakura stared pointedly at the copy-ninja across from her and met his gaze. She had already been plied with two drinks in the past hour already, and was working on her third. She was beginning to feel the warm tingling effects of the drinks. Three shots and she would soon have to excuse herself to the bathroom to remove some of the toxins from her system to keep her head on straight. _'How am I going to help him, I can't just start shoving chakra into him in the middle of the club without raising some questions.'_

Her decision was made for her as someone thrust the three shots into her face and she noted with a flare of emotion that a busty blonde had done the same to Kakashi while slipping her arm through his elbow. His hand was in his pocket and he radiated a casual nonchalance that drew looks from the women in the area like moths to a flame_. 'pftt…whatever..' _She bit her lip and turned from her team-leader and looked at the three tiny drinks.

One...Two...Three.

All the glasses were empty in front of her and the silver haired man did the same.

The atmosphere quickly changed after that. The quiet ramblings of business and politics gave way as drinks began arriving in mass. Apparently this kick off of Yakiro's is what everyone had been waiting for. People began splitting off from the table and chairs to make their way to the dance floor.

Kakashi felt the vague feeling of warmth that accompanied his drift toward drunkenness and noted it warily. _'I need to get Sakura alone.' _ His thoughts were interrupted as the blonde women who brazenly ran the hand she did not have through his arm, over his stomach lightly, looking up at him. He stared down at her and she gave him a coy smile. "You're very fit… more so than any other man here."

He returned her smile. "I'm a shinobi…being un-fit would be detrimental to my profession"

"Do you ever take your mask off for anyone?" her hand drifted higher up to his chest to play with his askew tie.

"Some people." He let his smile drop and eyed her with a detached air as her hand crept toward his face. He knew where she was headed; he had played this game with many women.

She frowned up at him and stilled her hand, sensing his silent warning. "Has your partner seen it?"

The masked mans eye narrowed slightly as he tried to read under the women's innocent question.

"She's very pretty, Saicho-san seems to like her." The blonde disregarded his silence.

Kakashi looked away from his irritating passenger, seeking out Sakura's location. He had lost her in the throb of people when he wasn't looking. Panic seized him momentarily as he searched the crowd.

Sakura had been reluctantly tugged in to the heap of dancing bodies by Saicho and a few of his cronies. She offered a parting glance to Kakashi but he was staring down at his blonde companion, her hand trailing over his firm stomach. A stab of heat spread though her as she remembered the feeling of her hands running under his shirt over his body. He was gone from sight within seconds as she was submerged in to the dance floor.

Kakashi looked down at the women on his arm. "Where did they go?"

She motioned to the dance floor a delighted spark in her eye. "You want to go?"

'_I'd rather piss glass...' _He thought but nodded to her and finished the potent drink he had in his hand quickly and set it down. _'Why did I just finish that? I really need to get Sakura' _He grabbed on to the blondes wrist and pulled her along behind him. He grimaced under his mask as he broke through the jumping, twirling, boiling crowd of people.

Sakura mind was racing with a crazed nervousness as she found herself being tugged into the demanding hands of Yakiro Saicho_. 'Shit..what do I do?'_ She allowed her body to move with his constantly searching the crowd for a silver-haired man. She was feeling fuzzy and disoriented, and she had a high tolerance for most toxins. Spending all that time with Shizune and her poisons, and Tsunade with her Sake did have more than its share of benefits. If she was feeling like this no doubt Kakashi was in the same boat. _'Scratch that...I hardly ever see him drink hard liquor, his boats probably tiny and sinking by now..'_

Saicho had his hands on her hips, grinding up agaist her. She made her mind up and was about to excuse herself to the bathroom when a familiar figure shifted into view.

The pink-haired women watched with fascination as her team-leader moved with the blond women she had seen him with before, his hands splayed lightly along her back. She was pushed up against him, allowing hardly any room for air between their bodies. A flush reached her cheeks as she stared at them.

Their eyes found each other across the gap of people between them and Kakashi visibly relaxed, pulling away from the blond women to lead her closer to Sakura.

Yakiro leaned forward to speak in Sakura's ear as he continued to move against her, his tone reproachful. "He follows you a lot…"

Sakura gave him a smile and leaned toward his ear. "He's my teammate, it's what we do."

Kakashi pulled along the couple his own blonde luggage rubbing against his leg, her hands moving across his chest . The copy-ninja hardly had to move at all, the blonde women was like a dog in heat. Anything he did made her pull him closer. _'Shes like a some kind of secret debilitating jutsu..'_

His lone eye traveled over his teammate and then landed on Saicho. The man in question offered the masked-man a courteous smile. "Hatake-san, having fun?"

Kakashi was in no mood, he had just took on a crowd that was hyped up on hormones and alcohol, all the while trying to keep this crazy women from drying humping him to an erection. Only to find the Daimyo's son with his hands far too low on his medic's hips, and his mouth way to close to his medic's neck. He forced a small eye crinkle and stared at the man attached to Sakura.

Sakura noted that Kakashi had a profound skill of saying so much, while saying nothing at all. She leaned toward Yakiro once more. "I need to go to the bathroom."

He nodded and frowned toward Kakashi. "I'll be at the bar." He said before turning to make his way out of the crowd.

The copy-ninja leaned down toward the woman at his side, pulling her closely to him. "Why don't you go get us some drinks? I'll be right there." The blonde women smiled as her mysterious masked man tugged her close to his body. She reached her hand up to wrap around his neck and pulled him down to whisper in his ear. "Don't take too long…we still have a lot we could do." She let the innuendo fill her words before she turned and moved through the crowd, a seductive sway in her hips for a Kakashi that wasn't watching.

* * *

The pink-haired women couldn't help the small smile that began tugging at her mouth and she tried to frown it out, and failed remarkably. Kakashi looked haggard and battle worn. The conquor of the Sharingan had met his match in the vivacious blonde women. The copy-ninja scowled down at her as she laughed at his anguish.

"Sakura, I didn't know where you went..."

Sakura scrunched her brows as he spoke and shook her head pointing to her ears. The pulsing crowd was flowing around them and the music was slamming in her ears. And he was trying to talk to her, though a mask, from feet away as aimless people lurched between them. No, she couldn't hear what he was saying.

The Jounin slid his eyes over his teammate. He wanted to keep his distance, she looked too good. He had seen her flirting with too many other men that night. The beast in his chest squirmed uncomfortably at the thought of her dancing with Yakiro Saicho. There were too many people around him, bumping into him, bumping into her. It wasn't safe here he needed to talk to her. And that was another issue.

They still hadn't spoken about what had happen last night, when she almost knocked him out and he yelled at her. They still hadn't spoken about the kiss. The distance he had implemented from her hadn't stopped his feelings and he wasn't sure if he wanted to stop them anymore, she was his. His medic. His teammate. His friend. And He wanted more than that_. 'No, Hatake your just buzzed.'_

Sakura watched him hesitate to approach the small distance that separated him and chewed her lip_. 'Do I just go get him; I can tell he's getting drunk.'_ She could tell by the concentrated look in his eye and the tense positioning of his shoulders. Kakashi was always loose, except when he was feeling overwhelmed. Being inebriated in a strange club surrounded by unknown people, he was becoming anxious.

She winced as another man, obviously drunk, moved in front of her and reached around her to put a hand on her waist. She avoided his reach and grabbed his wrist, shaking her head no apologetically.

The copy-ninja glared at the bold man that intercepted Sakura. The jealousy rearing its ugly head once again, feeling empowered by the alcohol in his system. He stepped forward to pull the man back, but his pink-haired teammate was already packing the man's bags for him and sending him on his way with shake of her head.

Kakashi stared down at the women before him, her bare shoulder flashing under the multi colored lights. He could see the beginnings of cleavage that gave way to the supple curves of her breasts. It was too much. He reached his hand out to slide softly over her hip and around to her back pulling her toward him. His fingers skating over the soft skin of her back wondering if any back ever felt so soft and warm.

Sakura hesitate slightly as her tall team-leader reached for her and tugged her toward him. He had been drinking; his head wasn't completely in the game right now. But as his fingers danced along her back and his solid body pressed up against her's she gave in. She felt him brush the hair away from her neck and lean down close to her ear. Chills ran down her neck as her stomach twisted in to loops of nervousness and need.

"Sakura, I've had too much to drink."

'_Romantic.'_ She thought but stayed silent, as they stood motionless in the mob of people. He was still by her ear and she waited for more.

"…. You look beautiful."

'_oh no, he is drunk.' _She floundered for a response, her heart quickening with excitement against the better judgment of her brain. What did she say to that? Thank you?

She raised her eyes up to him as he lean back away from her. She didn't know what to say so she smiled warmly at him and straighten his dangerously loose tie. She motioned toward the other side of the club where they had been and he nodded in understanding as she turned to lead the way out.

Her heart leapt in her chest as she felt his hand firmly glued to her waist and his chest pressed up against her back. He was so close. She wanted to lean back into him, to let his hands travel over her body. _'Nope, not going to do that, I think I'm a little drunk too.'_

Kakashi eyed the crowd of people as he followed Sakura out. He wasn't going to let some other idiot try to waltz off with her while he was around. Part of his brain informed him that this was an inappropriate thought process that he was experiencing. The other half told that half to shut the hell up; the Kunoichi on the white dress was for him only.

Sakura took her team-leader by the hand and led him to the gap in the wall that began to curl down to the bottom floor. She got half way down and turned to face him.

"Here stand right here Kakashi." She pulled him directly in front of her. "I need to take care of myself then I'll do you. Block anyone from seeing."

He nodded in hazy agreement and peered down the dark hallway for anyone approaching around the corner. He could see the faint glow of the green medicinal chakra as she pressed her fingers to her own stomach, doing, he didn't know what to get the toxins to move out of her blood stream.

She could have tried to weed out the toxins without the aid of her hands, but Tsunade had always warned against it unless the situation was dire. Without the guidance of the chakra from your hands it was easy to confuse all the inner workings of the body. When you're diving into your internal organs and manipulating your blood flow, it was always best to error on the side of caution.

A rowdy outcry of laughter informed him of incoming visitors to their area and he quickly pressed himself up against her resting his forearm on the wall beside her head and leaning down close to her face. "Sorry." He muttered lowly as he heard a sharp inhale of surprise from her. Her hand was wedged between them, hiding the tell-tale glow of her chakra.

Neither of them wanted to explain to their companions for the evening, that they didn't want to get drunk and have a good time; they were just using them to get answers.

They both felt a flush of embarrassment as one of the passer bys let out a bawdy whistle in their direction, followed by a loud offering for a condom, should they need it.

Sakura rolled her eyes at the small group of drunken men that offered them a condom. _'Idiots.' _She flexed her fingers from her stomach satisfied with the results, she was already less tingly. The masculine form of the man pressed against her was eliciting an entirely different tingle from her body and she had no cure for that. _'Well there is a cure…but—'_

Her thoughts were cut off as Kakashi pushed himself away from her. The front of her body felt chilled at the absence of his heat. She hadn't wanted him to move away. She wanted him closer, or did she? Her mind flashed back to the night before _'Jump on the first man who smiles at you.' _ She couldn't help the spark of anger that flared brightly as she thought about that moment.

"Ok your turn..um…" she looked around frowning, her mind still awash with thoughts of their fight the night before. " just..stand against the wall.." she circled him as they switched positions. She laid her hand on his stomach and sent a tendril of chakra into him, searching out around his liver and the surrounding blood. She grimaced up at him. "God's Kakashi..how much have you had?"

The Jounin shrugged. He couldn't really remember. He had one with Karu, then a few more, then the shots, then he finished the one he had while he had the shots, then the blonde had gotten him another. "..two?" he lied unconvincingly.

"My ass…" she frowned up at him earning herself an eye-crinkle as he reached up to ruffle her hair. She lowered her eyes back to his stomach. She felt his hand trail over her cheek and smooth her hair back behind her ear.

"Sakura, I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "Not here Kakashi, later."

She wanted to talk to him, needed too even. She even had the outlines of a speech, but not here in the middle of a club, in the middle of attempts at gathering Intel.

His thumb lightly traced the pale scars on her face he felt responsible for, his sobriety was coming back slowly as she worked her magic. "Ok, later." He agreed quietly and let his hand drop to his side.

More people, this time coming down the ramp from the top. Her sharp eye's recognized a few of the men from Yakiro's group and she stepped a few feet away from the Jounin and crossed her arms, in attempt to display their distance. Kakashi shoved his hands in his pockets as they expertly picked up in a middle of a boring conversation about night club.

"Ah hah! We found you!" exclaimed the bright voice of one of the men they had acquainted themselves with earlier.

Sakura smiled brightly at the group of people approaching, inwardly cursing for not being faster with Kakashi, he still had plenty of alcohol in his system. Not a detrimental amount, but more than either of them would like._ 'Tsunade walks around with that much alcohol in her all the time and she's ok.'_ she mused in attempt to make herself feel better.

"You guys want to come down with us? We want to check out the bottom floor."

Kakashi couldn't figure out what would be so different between the two floors, but nodded a yes as his thoughts traveled to Yakiro waiting for Sakura at the bar up stairs and the blonde women that was getting him a drink_. 'Maybe they will meet at the bar and fall in love.'_ He gave a small smile at his little inside joke. "Downstairs sounds like fun." He pushed away from the wall with his foot, hands still deep in his pockets as he meandered down toward the bottom floor with his medic in tow.

Two hours later and the two leaf shinobi had not left each other's side. Silently agreeing to stick together for this round of questioning, they worked well off each other. One casually broaching a topic, while the other dropped subtle hints that might strike a chord of remembrance, it was thrilling. They discussed shady political maneuvers, dissention among citizens of some of the other Shinobi villages, an intriguing number of missing nin and a few stories of a powerful organization. Though no-one really knew anything about it other than, they heard that there maybe was one. The more the people drank the looser their tongues became and the easier questions could be asked.

Kakashi and Sakura both were immediately offered new drinks when their companions noted their empty hands, but this time they sipped lightly and nursed their drinks. No one noticed since they were all too plastered to be concerned.

* * *

"Sakura! Kakashi!" both ninja turned at the call of their names by a familiar voice.

Sakura's brows scrunched together as she spotted Karu waving at them from a few feet away at the bar. She tapped her team-leaders elbow in curiosity and they both strode toward him.

"Kobiyashi-san, are you alright?" Kakashi asked with a concerned frown, the club-owner seemed fatigued and panicky. His usual pristine clothes had a slightly rumpled look to them now and he had a bright sheen of sweat on his forehead.

"Yeah, I just…" he shook his head anxiously and looks toward the ceiling. "Something came up." He waved a hand in a rapid dismissive gesture. "Are you two enjoying your night?" he voice trembled lightly as he spoke.

Sakura gave a worried glance at Kakashi then back to Karu. "Yes it's very nice. Tell us what happened? Is Saicho-san causing trouble? "

"'ll tell you but first, have a drink with me. It will help me calm down."

They stood silently watching as he disappeared behind the bar and leaned under the counter to prepare the drinks. A few minutes later he slid the drinks across to them. Tall slender glasses filled with clear liquid a thin swirl of lemon curling up to the top of each.

"Ok so what happened?" said Kakashi.

"Drinks first." Karu cut off as he picked up his glass and tipped it back draining it.

Sakura scoffed at the eccentric man and grabbed her drink and tipped it back also, shuddering at the sour taste. _'Of all the things he wants to drink, it's this nasty stuff.'_

Kakashi sniffed at the drink and watched the pink-haired women drink hers down and wrinkled his nose before doing the same.

Kobiyashi patted them both lightly on their shoulders. "Come on let's talk about this outside. Away from prying ears."

The silver-haired Jounin nodded and put his hand on his medics elbow as he followed Karu around the circular bar, out in to the hallway. They walked quickly to an unmarked door, or at least it felt quick to the copy-ninja, but maybe he was just moving slowly.

Sakura blinked back tears as they entered the brightly lit storage room that housed boxes of liquor. Her head buzzed lightly as she was appreciative of the fact that they were going outside. She was feeling way to warm.

Kobiyashi opened a door that led to the outside and the cool breeze hit them all as they walked down a small set of stairs. The waterfalls that sat a block back behind the club still powerful enough to fill the night with the resounding sound of crashing water.

Kakashi leaned back against the cool brick of the building closing his eyes to fend off the dizziness that had hit him at the same time the cold air did.

The pink-haired women sniffed lightly and put her hand on the rail of the stairs they had just descended to get outside, exhaling deeply to combat the side effects of the alcohol. _'Guess I had more than I realized.'_ She looked up at Karu. "What going on Karu? You seem almost hysterical." she croaked.

The business owner paled and gave them both a sad smile. "I um..I..…" he muttered lowly. "..just wait here.."

Sakura scoffed angrily, a look of bewilderment crossing her face as the man trudged into the dark leaving her and Kakashi in the dim light behind the club.

"Sakura, I'm drunk.."

She glanced over to the masked man and fear gripped her as she watched him try to steady himself against the wall. She moved to help him and was hit with her own feeling of vertigo. She caught herself on the same wall the masked man leaned on for support. "What the hell..something's wrong Kakashi.."

The copy-ninja swallowed hard, his tongue dry in his mouth. He felt a cool sweat break out over his body, his head swam dizzily. He glanced over to Sakura who seemed to be faring only slightly better. The glance to the side threw his world for a loop and he couldn't stop the world from spinning. His mind went blank as he dropped to his knees, eyes closed leaning against the wall for support. Trying to keep himself from blacking out he focused on his breathing.

Sakura heart was stuttering in her chest, she moved her hand to her stomach and let the chakra move down her arm. It wasn't happening normally, the sensation of her chakra was muffled and slow. Like a snail in the winter. When she finally got the chakra to her hand she laid it on her stomach and probed for the issue. She found it and wanted to cry. She heard Kakashi slump to his knees breathing labored. She kept her hand on her stomach as she slowly tried to cure herself.

"Kakashi, we've been drugged, someone- "

"ah ah ah..none of that." Her hand was pulled away from her attempts at restoring herself and she was whipped around, the motion turning her stomach harshly and sending her brain in a twirling frenzy. She pitched forward and centered herself at the last-minute wobbily standing upright.

"My, you are a resilient young woman …"

She glared at the vaguely familiar faces in front of her trying to place where she had seen them. "Who are you…"

The dark-skinned man smiled at her, but she felt no reassurance only the cold dread that crept over her as he leaned forward and laid a hand on her cheek touching her scars. "You haven't forgotten me have you? and after all the fun we had together..."

"Don't fucking touch her…" Kakashi ground out, glaring up from his knees as he tried to stand, grabbing for his Hitai-ate.

"Ahh..Hi again Hero…nice chase you gave us over the border..." the smile stayed plastered to his face as he stared impassively at Kakashi. A giant beast of a man stepped up to the copy-ninja and knocked him back stopping him from exposing his sharingan.

It was him; the dark-skinned shinobi from the failed mission at the campsite, on his right stood the women with red hair and a scar around her neck. The man who towered over Kakashi was the deep voiced monster that told her about Kobiyashi at the bar when they first arrived in Tani.

"Karu..?" she groaned as she tried to get her head to wrap around at least one question. Her world spun again and this time she did pitch forward and was caught in the arms of the dark enemy in front of her.

"Don't fall in that pretty dress; you'll ruin it. Let's go somewhere more private to talk." He nodded to the giant man beside Kakashi. " Ryota, grab her boyfriend please…"

"Jun, get the lights please." Sakura blinked in a daze trying to summon her chakra as she watched the red-haired women walk over to Kakashi and lay a hand on his head. He slumped to the ground a second later. Then she approached Sakura, reaching her hand out toward her head. The medic jerked back a few inches in vain.

She shot a vicious look to the man who held her; at least she hoped it was vicious. "I'll... kill you…"

"Fair enough..." is all she heard as her world dropped into blackness.

* * *

**A/N**

_0_0 I just want to thank, Again. Everyone for reviewing! I'm almost to 50! I know it's n00b status by some authorities..but i'm still thrilled._

_And thanks to you silent stalkers out there following and reading. I hope your not getting bored and continue to enjoy the story._

_R&R if you feel so inclined._

_/\_/\ Ninken_


	13. Tell me

Ok _warning_ here.

This chap gets** _ dark _**and_ violent_. I don't want to tell you more because I don't want to ruin it.

I'm sorry if it makes you uncomfortable. Its how I roll..dark and twisty.

Myself I don't think it's actually that bad.

but I live in a world of shades of grey...^_^

and my moral compass spins wildly on its axis.

**_Tell me..._**

* * *

Kakashi's ears were ringing unpleasantly, his head was swimming with what seemed like the joint efforts of all the hangovers he'd ever had. He moved to rub his face. His hands wouldn't listen.

He froze. Panic. He could feel a weight around his wrists that were locked at his sides. He tried to summon his chakra, and his body declined to respond and instead he felt a wave of dizziness wash over him. He tried to open his eyes. He was blind-folded. He shifted his legs just to see, even though he knew it would be an effort in futility. They were stuck. He had been in this position before, during his first war._ '…Trapped….'_

The copy-ninja inhaled deeply through his nose and cocked his head listening for any noise.

'_Sakura.' _He could smell the faint scent of the perfume she had worn at the club.

The pink-haired women watched her team-leader as he came around, she had tried waking him earlier but he was non-responsive. The drugs had not stayed in her system for as long as his, from her resilience to poisons or that she had less alcohol in her system, who knew. Her heart thumped in her chest as she watched him try to gain his senses while blinded. They had tied his Hitai-ate tightly over his eyes, obviously afraid of the infamous Sharingan.

"Kakashi…" she whispered lowly.

"Sakura…. are you ok?" His heart beat increased as he heard her soft voice call to him. _'She's alive...'_ He wasn't sure if that made him feel better or worse about their situation. He knew what to expect, people didn't capture and tie you up because they had good intentions.

She exhaled deeply as he spoke, she had been so worried. "Shhh..they'll hear you..I'm...not hurt…" She didn't know what else to say. She was tied up in a dimly lit room, with chakra a reducer on her ankle. Her head hurt, her chakra was still slogging through her system like a thick paste due to the drugs that still clung to her, she was hungry, she was thirsty and she was terrified. _'What's going to happen to us?'_

Kakashi tried shaking his head to clear the fog that was clouding his brain. That only made it worse. He sucked in a deep breath through his mask and hung his head as the world spun around him.

"Are you blind-folded?"

"No"

"What do you see, where are we?"

She glanced around the room she spent the last hour looking at. "..A big room, I think this is an old warehouse. I think we're close to the docks, I've heard some ship horns."

"How long have we been here?"

"um…I don't know…Kakashi." Her voice cracked slightly in distress. "I think a few hours…I can't see outside, there are no windows here.."

"It's ok Sakura..." He tried to calm her by getting her to focus. "How many do they have?"

She knew he was speaking of the enemies. "Just the three shinobi is all I've seen, but Kakashi they have Kobiyashi here too. I heard them talking about him when they thought I was still knocked out."

Kakashi tried to recall what happened at the bar, it was pretty clear now that Karu had drugged them with that last drink and then led them in to a trap_. 'Why?'_ He brushed aside useless wonderings to deal with the issue at hand. _'We need to get out before they come back.'_

"Have they asked you anything? What have you heard?" he kept his voice low to keep from drawing anyone's attention. He longed to see Sakura; he could hear the fear in her voice. He wanted hold her and tell it would be ok, but he wouldn't lie to her.

The pink-haired women stared at her bound and blinded comrade. "Kakashi, I don't know what's going on. I've heard names, lots of names. I think they are waiting for more people."

They were interrupted by the approaching sound of footsteps.

They became deathly quiet, the silence was deafening in between the rise of one foot and the fall of another. Time stretched horribly as they waited.

Sakura looked toward the gap in the wall were a door should be, her stomach clenched tightly.

Kakashi stiffened, waiting and listening in his dark prison behind the blindfold.

"Awww…how nice you're both awake now." The dark smiling shinobi she heard referred to as Norio walked through the gap in the grimy wall that lead in to the room they were being held in. The giant man from the bar called Ryota leered at them as he followed on Norio's heels.

"Hmmm, Kakashi Hatake and Sakura Haruno, would you care to tell me what brings you two to Tani?" said Norio with a pleasant tone, as if he were engaging in polite conversation with old friends.

_Silence._

Norio frowned at them as if disappointed by their anti-social behavior. He moved over to Kakashi and moved a hand toward his face.

"No don't! Kakashi!" cried Sakura.

The copy-ninja jerked back reflexively from the feeling of the approaching man and the warning from Sakura.

Norio reached out and grabbed him by the shirt yanking him back to his original position. He tutted softly like they were small misbehaving children. "Now stop that. I was just going to do this." He lifted up the edge of Kakashi's blind-fold to expose his dark eye. "Now we can all see each other, its better this way."

He then softly smoothed the cloth over the sharingan eye with a chuckle. "We wouldn't want that bad boy to get loose, now would we?"

Kakashi blinked and surveyed the room where he was being held. His eye darted around to the smiling man in front of him, the door, the ceiling, the floor, the big man from the bar, and Sakura. He locked his gaze on his medic. She was still in her white dress and heels; it was a glaring opposite to the shabby, mildew, mold and rust that stained the walls of the room they were in. Her hands and legs were bound to the sides of the folding chair she sat in, much like he was. A metal chakra reducer was locked around her ankle.

He calculated the distance to her, maybe fifteen feet, another twenty back to the door. But he was stuck and so was she, and there were two men between him, her and the door. _'Think Hatake..think..'_

Norio silently watched the copy-ninja as he sat bound to the chair calculating his chances of escape and the best route to take to get there. He smiled when the silver-haired mans eyes stuck to his kunoichi comrade and didn't waver from her. "hmm..She does look very pretty doesn't she? You're a lucky man to work with such an attractive young woman. It would be a terrible thing to ruin those good looks. What do you think you think so Hatake-san?"

_Silence._

Ryota pulled up a chair and sat next across from Sakura; staring at her while she locked her jaw, refusing to look away from him. "Sorry about leading you around at the bar sweetie, I had to wait for my team-mates. I knew that Ninja-lover would take you guys in and distract you for a while." He reached out and brushed a lock of hair away from in front of her eyes.

Sakura glared at the man in front of her. "Fuck you."

He shrugged and leaned forward to place a giant hand on her shoulder, his thumb dipping dangerously low to rub above her breast. "If you keep asking so nicely… I can arrange it." he purred his deep voice a dangerous tone.

Sakura didn't move and continued to stare at the giant in front of her. _'Don't be scared it's what he wants.'_ But she was. The man was huge and his rotten breath slid over her face as his hand slid lower on her chest, his thumb sliding under the top of the fabic.

"Get your hand off her! "

Ryota nodded toward Kakashi, ignoring his outburst. "Your boyfriend can watch if you want...I'll rip you to pieces and make you tell me how much you love it."

Sakura stared the big man down as he plucked at the hem of her dress right above her breasts. "Stink-eye me all day sweetie, It only makes it better when you break..."

Kakashi strained against the ropes on his hands in an attempt to free himself. He reached for his chakra to strengthen him in his struggle. The reducers on his wrist activated and another wave of vertigo swept over him.

"Whoa whoa whoa…Ryota, be polite. It hasn't come to that yet." Norio called out in a calming tone.

The swarthy Shinobi crossed over to Sakura while Ryota sat back with an amused grin on his face. Norio leaned down to her level, smile bright on his face. "If you don't tell us what we want. I **will** let him have you, and I **will **make your friend watch."

Sakura leaned away from Norio's chilling smile. Where Ryota was huge and imposing, Norio was cool and calculating and that was worse. He knew physical torture might not work, but the mental anguish of watching your comrade getting tormented in front of you, listening to their screams, watching them be degraded, knowing you could stop it with a few words, hoping it doesn't happen to you, but knowing it will. That was a different kind of torture all together.

"So your other friend, the boy with the dark hair and ink scrolls from our last encounter in the forest. how is he doing? A shame he's not here with you." Norio questioned curiously.

Sakura refused to meet his eye and stared at the wall_. 'Sai, they killed Sai and now they have us too.'_

"Just playing with you, I know he's dead. Sai was his name right? Hmm must have been a painful way to go…but I can do a lot worse." He shrugged nonchalantly before grabbing her chin roughly making her face him. "I'm going to kill your other team-mate, slow and right in front of you unless you answer my question. What have you found in Tani?"

_Silence._

He shoved her backward roughly and moved to Kakashi pulling out a kunai on his way. He knelt by the chair that secured him and pressed the kunai in to his blue shirt at the front of his shoulder, a trickle of blood creeping forward to stain the area black. Norio looked over toward Sakura. "Once last chance…Tell me what you know and who you've told..."

Kakashi eyes met Sakura's for a moment and he shook his head slightly. The stinging pain in his arm a prequel of what was to come, but they could not reveal any of the information they had found.

Sakura swallowed and turned from Norio and Kakashi to stare at the wall, she didn't want to see what was about to happen. But she would not hand over the Intel, meager as it may be.

"No you look!" Ryota grabbed her by the hair and turned her back. She watched as Norio expertly slid the Kunai down Kakashi's shoulder splitting his shirt and skin on the way to his wrist. The cut was not too deep but neither was it shallow. Blood welled up under the line the kunai left and was soon dripping down his arm and on to the floor.

'_Kakashi…I'm sorry.'_

The copy-ninja bit the inside of his cheek and turned from Sakura to stare at the wall, looking away from his blood, away from the enemies and away from his comrade_. _He could hear the slow tearing of his shirt and skin, his Anbu training shifted in as he tried to empty his mind and go somewhere else, ignore it. Forget it all.

Norio shrugged at their non-responsiveness. "Ok, now your turn Kakashi. Same question, we know Tsunade sent you here, we know about the merchants. You tell me how much you know or you watch her die slowly."

Both Konoha shinobi turned to look at Nori and he smiled. "Oh...I know plenty already, now I just need to know what you know. So just tell me." He walked back to the pink-haired women in the white dress. "Shame to mess this dress up with blood… so let's do this arm shall we?" He moved around her to the side of the dress that left her shoulder bare. He stared pointedly at Kakashi as he dug the smooth edge of the knife into her shoulder.

Kakashi's heart was beating franticly, the adrenaline coursing through his system as he watched the kunai drag down Sakura's smooth arm, a stream of red springing from her assaulted skin. He couldn't forget or ignore her pain. "Stop..."

Norio smiled as his Kunai paused at the crease in her elbow. "…You stop it…tell me what you know."

_Silence_.

Norio shrugged and continued dragging his weapon down to her wrist."How many times do you think I can do this before one of you bleeds to death?" He mused with a small laugh.

"Just kidding, this is just the beginning. I'll pull your teeth out or start skinning you next…. If that doesn't work, Ryota can have you both for a while." He laughed again and shook his head.

Sakura breath hitched slightly as the kunai ripped her apart slowly but she stayed silent and stared ahead unseeing.

* * *

The silent cutting session continued until both leaf-ninja had fat puddles of sticky blood pooled under them. It was a strange feeling, being bled out slowly. Like the world was beginning to close in on you.

"Tell me…"

_Cut_

… And the blade would go deeper.

"What do you know..?"

_Cut_

…and the skin would tear more.

"Tell me…"

_Cut_

...the blood would run faster.

"Who did you tell?"

_Cut_

_..._and the pain would grow sharper.

"Tell me…"

_Cut_

"Tell me…"

_Cut_

"Tell me…"

Sakura couldn't get at her chakra, couldn't try to heal herself. Couldn't get to Kakashi or help him. She just watched the blood washing down his limp arm, hearing the tiny rapid spatters as it dropped to join the thick red puddle on the floor below. The sound of their ragged breathing and dripping blood combining to make a soft symphony of deterioration.

Kakashi was at six gaping, leaking cuts down his arm and Sakura was in the middle of catching up to him when footsteps sounded down the hallway, approaching quickly.

"Norio." The red-haired women sauntered around the corner eyeing the torture session with boredom. She had her own pile of bloody senbon clutched in her hand.

The dark-skinned man stood up. "Jun? What did you find?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. Their rooms are clean except for a few notes on stuff we already have. It seems that they didn't tell the Kekkai-genkai user or the club-owner anything that we didn't already know either. Norio…there's something else…" she trailed off and motioned for him to come with her.

Norio frowned and handed the kunai over to Ryota. "Watch them." He moved from the room to speak with the women called Jun.

Sakura and Kakashi's eyes met briefly.

"You have Akino and Kobiyashi here?" Sakura said faintly to the giant man towering near her. She felt light-headed; she knew she would to go in to shock soon, if she hadn't already. The medic tried to reach for her chakra; it chugged to life within her, not a weak as it had been earlier_. 'I need to heal myself.'_ The drain of the chakra reducer caused her stomach to lurch slightly and she stopped quickly.

He nodded silently before shifting his gaze to hers. "We knew you were coming, it was my job to keep track of you till the others arrived. That queer and his Kekkai-genkai shinobi were enough to distract you for a few days, huh?" his momentary proud grin shifted to a distinct frown after a moment's consideration. "Never thought he might actually know something…. that sure got me in a mess of shit…" his baritone voice rumbled around the room as he spoke.

"Anyways, a few more people are coming and you and your boyfriend are gunna be fucked...I'd just tell Norio what he wants." He crouched down beside her his eyes traveling over her body slowly. He reached out and ran his finger up her leg, over her knee and smoothly along her thigh, pushing her dress up as he crept higher. "If you don't say something soon, I get to have you. Is that what you're waiting for? If so sweetie, just say it."

A chill ran up Sakura's body as she watched the man rub his hand over her leg. She locked her eyes on him venomously and stayed silently defiant. _'I'm a kunoichi from Konoha, the Hokage's apprentice this guy won't get to me.'_ She tried to bolster her confidence, but her heart was thrumming quickly and her brain screaming for her to run and just to plead for him to stop.

_Silence._

The pink-haired women couldn't stop the shudder that slammed through her body as the big man's hand continued its derelict path up and in between her legs. His thumb lightly rubbing against the thin material of her panties which was only protection she had to stop his unwanted advances. It didn't seem like hardly enough.

Kakashi watch as the giant accosted his medic, fury washing over his fatigue. _'Not Sakura, not like this.' _He tried to push his emotions to the back but couldn't. He couldn't watch her get tortured; every time she was cut he felt like throwing up. Now to watch this pig take advantage of her. Telling her how he would rape her, he couldn't stand it. "**Leave her alone**." He rasped.

Ryota turned to look at Kakashi for a second than back to Sakura with a devious grin, his hand still under Sakura's dress. "hmm..I think he's getting jealous of us what do you think?"

"He's twice the man you will **ever** be." She spat out through her clenched jaw. She cringed inwardly as she saw a flash of anger creep over his face, as he stared at her. Then in a second the look was gone.

Ryota stood up, pulling away from her and gave a hearty laugh. Like the two of them were the funniest joke he had heard in a long time. "You two are something else…" he shook his head with a smile and walked over to the gap in the wall to stare down the hallway.

After a few minutes he moved to grab the chair by Sakura and sat down again waiting in silence with his two captive shinobi.

* * *

Thirty minutes later Norio slammed back in the room and caught Ryota in his sights. The Giant man stared at him puzzled.

"Ryota. They are supposed to contact the Hokage tonight at sunset."

"What? I thought it was once a week?"

"That's what _they_ told us last week. Something must have changed; _He_ just contacted Jun and told her."

"Well what are we going to do? We can't just let them go?!"

Norio frowned at the two imprisoned shinobi. "Nobu and Asuka are on the way here now. They should be here soon, maybe Nobu can Genjustsu the girl to reply..or somthing..." He shook his head and shrugged at a loss for answers. "Come on. We just got word from our Windy team..." he motioned for the big man to follow him. He turned slightly and smiled toward the silver and pink-haired shinobi.

"You two stay here and rest up. We've just got to figure out a few things out. You should think about how much you like the skin on your back. Round two is next."

In a flash both Shinobi were gone again, the sounds of their footsteps echoing distantly.

* * *

The Jounin shot his eyes to Sakura as soon as they were alone. His stomach turned unpleasantly as his met her eyes. Her arm was sheathed in the scarlet shade of her own life. The rips in her skin a dark crimson against the lighter flow that spilled over her arm. He didn't ask if she was ok. He knew the truth.

"Sakura, can you get to your Chakra?" he whispered.

She nodded to his question and reached within herself. The chakra bubbled lightly like a fountain in her chest. The reducer on her ankle activated and she felt weak, weaker then she already felt, like the air was being sucked from her lungs and she was spinning. "I can't…."

The copy-ninja nodded desperately. "You have to try again…Sakura. They only put one reducer on you; I know you're strong enough to break that."

"You can't break them Kakashi"

"Yes you can. I helped Ibiki make the seals for the ones we have in Konoha. These are the same, the seals can be overwhelmed. That's why Sasuke has five. "

The pink-haired women inhaled deeply and reached for her chakra again, ripping it from the fountain in her chest and trying to force it though her body. The reducer activated, she gasped faintly, her face twisting in agony as she entered a vicious tug of war for her chakra.

Kakashi turned from Sakura's suffering as he too began to try to overwhelm his reducers. His chakra was returning slowly, the toxins wearing off. He was weak from the drugs, the sleepless nights, the pain of torture, the stress of being forced to watch Sakura endure the same. But he was Kakashi no Sharingan, he conquered the Uchiha kekkai-genkai, he survived two wars. He could do this.

His heart rate was increasing, causing his blood to drip more quickly on to the floor, the same effect that was happening to Sakura a few feet away.

_'tick… tick… tick...tick… tick.'_

The copy-ninjas concentration broke as he tried to figure out where that noise was coming from_. 'What is that?'_ It sounded familiar but he couldn't place it. He turned to Sakura to tell her to stop but as soon as he opened his mouth she gave breathless silent cry and the reducer fell from her ankle. She slumped forward in her chair, vomited up what little remains she had her in stomach and was unconscious the next second.

_'tick…tick…...tick..…'_ The noise approached more slowly and Kakashi stared toward the entrance.

A small wrinkled familiar face peeked around the corner and the copy-ninjas heart leapt in to his throat with hope.

Pakkun surveyed the scene in the room with anxiety, Uhei close on his heels.

"Kakashi…"Pakkun muttered lowly, his tone full of remorse for what he was seeing.

Uhei's tails dropped between his legs, ears back as he smelled the blood, vomit and stress that saturated the air the room. "Boss, we caught the enemies scent a last night, we've been trying to find you…we followed the scent of that red-haired women to your hotel, then here."

Kakashi nodded with relief. He had completely forgotten about the ninken in his torment. " Hurry...Help me; we need to get out of here. Where is everyone else?"

"They are outside waiting for us; we thought it would be better if only two came in."

Uhei and Pakkun moved to began tearing, with chakra reinforced teeth, at the bindings that held their summoner. It was only a matter of minutes before the dogs had his hands free from the sides of the chair.

Kakashi dove forward to begin ripping the bindings off his legs. _'We need to get out of here before they come back.'_ He stood quickly and moved to Sakura, as the dogs did the same. His swift actions caused the floor to tip under him, but he managed stayed up right. The dogs pulled at her straps with their teeth as he tapped her face lightly trying to wake her up.

"Sakura please..Sakura get up. We need to go."

The medic blinked back the fog in her brain_. 'What is happening..?'_ It all came rushing back; she had gotten the reducer off her leg. She yanked her head up quickly and stared in confusion at her team-leader leaning over her, worry dominated his masked face.

"Kakashi how did you-"

"Sakura-chan are you ok?"

She looked down at the ninken that had just succeeded in freeing her arms. "Pakkun, Uhei.." she cried mutely in surprised joy.

Kakashi had dropped to his knee and was removing the bindings on her legs as quickly as he could. "Sakura we need to go now…"

She nodded and pulled at her chakra, immersing herself in the joy she felt as it came obediently under her command. She took his wrists and slammed her own, now uninhibited chakra into his own chakra depleting irons, after a few minutes of bombardment by the powerful kunoichi they clattered to the ground.

She leaned forward as he moved once again to work on freeing legs. She placed her hands, one pale, and the other dyed scarlet with her blood, on his injured arm. Green chakra flowed into his injuries as she rushed to stop his blood from dripping so quickly. The ninken stood by the door watching, listening and smelling for any incoming enemies as their comrades worked on one another.

The silver-haired man sighed in respite as the deep comforting coolness of her chakra began stringing his skin back together, she was rushing, just doing the minimum to close it and stop the bleeding but it was more than enough. He looked down at her feet that were still strapped in her high heels. _'Not good for running.'_ He lowered his hands too her feet, pulling her shoes off as she began to work on healing her own arm.

He stood looking down at her as she worked rapidly; she pulled her hand away when her lacerations were bright red angry streaks to match his own. They could still break open but at least they weren't bleeding everywhere. He held his hand out for her to help her stand, his heart beating quickly with the need to escape.

She took his hand and pulled herself up. "Wait Kakashi…" she stopped him as he moved toward the only way out of the room. She placed her hand over his stomach, checking for any lingering effects of the poison. It was still clinging to him. She closed her eyes as she moved her chakra through his organs, pulling the toxins from the most vital regions. The she did the same to herself, it took only seconds. Her body was mostly in the clear as far as the drugs went.

The copy-ninja felt the effects of her efforts immediately. His dizziness had faded away to a misty cloud, the weakness that had been plaguing his chakra network dwindled dramatically. He pulled the cloth that covered his sharingan off and tossed it to the floor and opened his left eye, closing his right. The red and black weapon twirled dangerously as it came to life.

"Pakkun, Uhei….how do we get out..?"

"This way boss." Said the taller dog as he looked around and slipped in to the hallway. Kakashi followed closely, and then Sakura, Pakkun bringing up the rear.

* * *

After only a few minutes of stealth Kakashi paused outside another door. The rest of the company stopped with him.

"What is it Kakashi?" the medic whispered

The copy-ninja pointed to the door. "Kobiyashi and Akino are in here…"

They all stared to where he had pointed.

"Alone..?" Sakura said, not taking her eyes from the door. She didn't know how she felt. The two men had betrayed them, but now they were held prisoner too.

"Yeah, for now, but..."muttered Kakashi with hesitation.

Pakkun sniffed the air. "No-one is near right now…we will stand watch."

Kakashi frowned as the pug made the decision for them. He wasn't sure he wanted to help the two men in the room, or even if he could help, the metallic scent of blood was strong behind the door. "Ok…"

He slid the door open to the room and winced at the smell that hit him, then at the image in the room.

"Oh gods.." Sakura muttered.

The two men, the dark-haired shinobi and the cheerful eccentric man were both bound and gagged. Akino's shirt had been pulled off, along with a few squares of skin along his shoulders and chest. He glanced up at the two Konoha shinobi weakly but made no other movements. He had been beaten severely, mottled purple bruises collected on his abdomen and ribcage and down the left side of his face. The floor under him was a slick mess of blood and discarded skin.

Karu Kobiyashi was still in the same clothes he had been in the night before. He stirred as he heard them enter the room, terror seizing his features until he realized who they were. Three of his fingers were twisted at irregular angles on his right hand and he had several deep punctures along his legs and arms. Blood was collecting slowly under his chair. A single senbon was left buried deep in to his left leg on the outside above his knee. A reminder, no doubt left to show how much more he could expect.

Sakura eyed the senbon in his leg reflecting on the red-haired women who had the bloody instruments in her hands hours ago. She moved forward to Karu and Kakashi to Akino. She pulled the gag cloth from his mouth and began working on freeing him.

"I'm sorry..so sorry for what I did to you.." he sobbed as she freed him.

Neither Konoha shinobi responded.

"Akino… the big guy.."He sobbed as he spoke his voice cracking with misery. "The big guy followed him to your apartment and jumped him after he left. He found me…he told me he would kill Akino and me if I didn't help…"

"Hush Karu, they will hear us." Sakura scolded, not wanting to hear the man's reasons.

Kakashi knelt in front of Akino as he released him. "Akino...Akino..." he tried to garner the other shinobi's flickering attention, but his eyes darted everywhere and focused on nothing.

Sakura pulled the last strap off Karu and placed a hand on his chest to hold him up as he slouched forward. "This will hurt…stay quiet." She pulled the senbon from his knee and he shuddered muffling a cry as she did so. She moved her hand over his body healing what she deemed to be the most serious. All in all he wasn't that bad off compares to what Akino, Kakashi and herself had already been through. _'He's a civilian, not a shinobi. It probably didn't take too much to get him talking.'_

Kobiyashi looked down at himself with pity and shook his head, tears falling freely. "I cried…I pissed myself…I told them everything I knew about you two…I'm so sorry.."

"Sakura, help him…" Kakashi called as he struggled to get Akino up right.

She inhaled deeply and moved toward the seriously injured man. "Shit...he's in shock…I don't know Kakashi…" she trailed her hands over his chest and abdomen biting her lip as her chakra moved through his body. It was clear he had receive the brunt of the questioning, doubtless they thought he and Sakura were close since he was caught leaving her room. "He's got a lot of internal bleeding…."

Kobiyashi muffled a cry of desperation. "Please Sakura. Please. This isn't his fault. Don't let him die."

Akino's gaze flickered in to focus as Karu pleaded for him. He stared at Sakura. "..They…there worried you're going to find out what they are doing…I heard them." He voice was hoarse and weak.

"shhh..don't talk" she shook her head as she tried to piece him back together.

Kakashi supported the man's weight holding him up for Sakura to work on.

Akino continued regardless of her commands. "The orders..come from somewhere else…" he swallowed hard as he tried to recall more information. "There are a lot of them..all spread out…the red haired women told the big guy…" a vague look of confusion spread across his features. "I couldn't sense his charka…he attacked me..I didn't know he was there… never happened before.."

Kakashi nodded at the man's confusion trying to calm him. "It's ok Akino…we didn't notice it either."

Sakura removed her hands from Akino and looked up at her team-leader, shaking her head. Tears were beginning to form in the corner of her eyes.

He knew what she meant. She couldn't heal him, not here. Not with this extensive amount of injuries.

Akino coughed out a dry laugh, understanding the silence that had engulfed the room. "It's ok..just set me down." Kakashi and Sakura obliged him. Tears begin falling from the medics face in silence, she felt responsible_. 'I can't save him…he's going to die in this horrible place in horrible pain.'_

Kobiyashi dropped to his knees beside the young man sobbing profusely. "Akino, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry…"

Kakashi put his arm around Sakura's shoulders and muttered in her ear. "..can you help him..?"

Sakura nodded in comprehension. She couldn't help him live but she could ease his torment. She knelt before the once smugly confident snow-nin and touched his knee to pull him back from his decent into pain. "Akino…I can make you fall asleep…it won't hurt anymore." her voice trembled with emotion.

He nodded at her with a small weary smile. He turned to Karu. " Kobiyashi-san…thank you."

Karu continued to weep openly as Sakura placed her hand on Akino's forehead softly summoning her chakra. She hated this; she had to do it during the war for comrades that were beyond help. She understood the reasoning even agreed with it. But being the person who takes your consciousness from this life, knowing you will never see, touch or smile again. It was a burden she hated carrying.

The medic sent a small pulse of chakra into his brain knocking him unconscious. He would be dead from his injuries within the hour. This way he wouldn't have to suffer till he got there.

Kakashi pulled Karu to his feet. "Come on we need to get out of here…"

The man struggled after the two shinobi as they left the room and the closest thing he had to family behind.

* * *

Twenty minutes after leaving the room with Karu the trio found themselves on the outside Tani. They had made it out of the warehouse, which was actually an old ship restoration building, and fled the city. The building was positioned on the very outskirts of Tani so they had little trouble evading watchful eyes.

Karu panted as they stopped to get their bearings. He bent over, hands on his knees as he tried to control his breathing and the emotions that threatened to over take him.

Sakura glanced around warily, if their escape hadn't been noticed yet, it soon would be and they would be pursued, with the additional help of their enemies expected comrades no less, while they were slowed by a civilian. She found herself glued to Kakashi's side, her hand holding on to the side of his bloody torn blue shirt, refusing to let go._ 'I can't lose him…'_

Kakashi had his arm around his medic's petite shoulders; she was still in the dress from the night before only now she was shoeless too. He needed to keep her safe_. 'I need to get her out of here..'_

"We need to get to Suna…" said Kakashi.

Karu glanced up at the two shinobi and nodded, breathlessly. "I have associates there…Emiko Sagawa and—"

The imposing form of Ryota flickered into view a few feet behind Kobiyashi. "Where the hell do you think you guys are going?" his large face was full of anger.

Karu cried out in surprise and lunged away as fast as he could.

Kakashi and Sakura quickly organized their thoughts for battle, both ninja noting how the big man still had no trace of chakra on him at all. It was like he was invisible to their senses. The Jounin shot a concerned look toward his medic standing a few feet away. They had no weapons; the few they took to the club had been lost upon their capture.

The giant lurched forward and grabbed the fleeing business-man by the collar of his shirt and yanked him back.

Karu gave a small 'oof' and clutched at his heart, looking down at a bright smearing of red that seeped into his shirt.

Ryota tossed him on to the ground roughly. A sickening squelch spreading around the area as he pulled his short sword from Karu's back. "Norio! Nobu!" the enemy ninja cried out to his un-seen teammates.

Sakura cried out in horror as Karu was thrown to the side, she sent a chakra enforced punch in to the ground, opening up the ground on Ryota.

Kakashi composed himself and formed the signs for sending a fire jutsu toward the man Sakura had trapped.

As the flame swept over the area and passed, Ryota had dissapeared.

Kakashi stood loose and ready for the next attack. Sakura moved her bare feet across the thin layer of pine needles to set up in a defensive posture. The ninken spread around the small area, searching and watching for the enemy.

The silence was pounding in their ears as they waited. They couldn't feel his chakra it was like sitting in the dark wondering when the lights were going to come on. You can't tell, can't prepare, suddenly it's just there.

The silence was split by a noise that sent Sakura's heart to her stomach, the crackling pop that she had first experience alone at the campsite with Sai.

The ground exploded in front of Kakashi and he jumped out-of-the-way. He had seen this justsu befpre when he and the Anbu had made contact with the enemy.

Norio strode into view with Ryota at his side. He gave a disappointed frown at the two run-aways. "Didn't I tell you two to stay put? Now look what you did. All your friends are dying around you…."

The fight exploded within seconds. Sakura and Ryota tried to force each other back on the defensive; the large man turned out to be a very skilled earth user and was constantly bombarding the pink-haired women with walls of earth and stone or cutting open the ground beneath her bare-feet. She in turn used her monstrous strength to destroy everything he sent her way. It was wearing down to who would make the first mistake_. 'I'm tired, I'm weak…I need to get out of here..'_ Her logical brain recognized quickly that she was coming up short faster and faster. The partially healed lacerations on her arms were breaking open, blood trickling to the ground as she moved.

Kakashi and Norio were locked in a massive Taijutsu battle. They were too close to each other, moving too fast while defending and attacking to have room to use jutsu. Both men blocking, slamming together and retreating only to dive in for the next hit trying to overcome each other. Kakashi landed a solid blow to the dark-skinned shinobi's chest and sent him sprawling back into a tree.

The ninken dodged around the area trying to help were they could, distract when they could. They were the first to notice the two new comers. The red-haired women Jun and a short tan boy with dark blue hair arrived on the scene. The dogs called out to Sakura and Kakashi in warning.

The copy-ninja caught sight of the new comers and glanced over toward Sakura a few feet away, she had just opened up the ground on her large adversary. They were both tired, both bleeding, they couldn't keep this up. Their enemies were well rested, fed and uninjured.

His decision took a split second. _'Run…'_

"Sakura!" he called out as he moved the few feet to her.

She looked toward her silver-haired teammate and caught on to his intentions. They both turned as their enemies composed themselves, and the new comers surveyed their surroundings. The two Konoha shinobi took to the trees, the ninken quickly following.

"Guys confused the scent…" the copy-ninja motioned to his dogs. The ninken acquiesced quickly; it was a new technique their summoner had taught them. They would mimic the chakra trail Kakashi usually left and spread out, if was a defensive move and this was the situation it was made for.

Sakura focused on her running, she was still in a dress and bare-foot on top of that. It wasn't the most tactically sound thing to be wearing when trying to evade an enemy. But it wasn't as if she had much of a choice, and it wasn't like they would be going back to Tani to get their supplies.

* * *

Four hours later they paused briefly to take in their surroundings. They were headed toward Wind country; they needed to get to Suna. To Naruto, Shikamaru, Hinata and some sort of ally.

Kakashi looked down at Sakura's bedraggled state and a painful storm of despair washed over him. She was sitting crossed legged her back against a tree in her now dirty, bloody, sweaty, torn dress. Her hands swirled with chakra as she tried to heal the bruising and injuries on her feet.

"Why don't' you just enforce your feet with chakra?" he suggested

She sighed. "I tried that at first but…I'm tired…and I can't waste my Chakra like that all the way to Suna, what if they catch up and we have to fight again...its fine I will just heal them when we rest, it takes less chakra that way." She sounded exhausted.

He sunk to his knees in front of her. "We will get to Suna, Tsunade and Naruto will know something happened…" he nodded toward the sun that was dropping below the horizon. "We're supposed to be meeting with Naruto's summon to discuss what happened at Swift River last night."

"Last night seems like years ago… and Suna seems so far away…" She muttered in a defeated tone as she pulled her hands away from her feet and looked up at him.

He leaned forward, his heart pounding in his chest as he brushed her hair away from her face_. _He could see the struggle she fought with herself; he wanted to say something to make her feel better. He knew what she was going through, he felt it himself. The guilt, the loss, the exhaustion and confusion he felt it all, but being just near her always made the suffering in life bearable.

'_..I can't do this anymore.'_ He cupped her chin in his hand and looked in to her troubled green eyes and his chest clenched tightly.

"You were so beautiful last night Sakura...you always are. I can't…"he tried to find the words to describe how he felt when he watch Norio cut into her or when Ryota had his hands all over her. "..I can't let anything happen to you…We'll get to Suna."

Sakura's hand reached up and tugged his mask down. She needed to see his face. "Kakashi, I'm sorry about everything that's happened between us…."she fumbled for words and looked toward the ground uncomfortably. Her chest felt fit to burst from all the feelings that were trying to work themselves out within her.

"Me too…" he mumbled as he watched her look away. He paused in his thoughts as a dangerous realization dawned on him and he steeled himself for saying what he couldn't take back. "Sakura.."

She glanced up at him, her face still cupped by his warm hand. "huh?"

"I'm not sorry for kissing you…I'm sorry about..everything else..but not about that.."

She watched his face for a long moment after he spoke. His usual lop-sided smile was a worried frown; his eye crinkle was nowhere to be seen. He was afraid of what she would say, scared she would accuse him of being a pervert or inappropriate or just brush off his confession like it was nothing.

Instead she gave him a small sad smile that made his apprehension disappear like a thin cloud on a windy day. "Me either…I'm not sorry about it."

He tilted her head toward him with a questioning gaze that let her know she could ask him to stop and he would in a heartbeat, but she didn't want him too. He put his other hand on the tree behind her and leaned down. His mouth gently pressed against hers and she melted under him, her hand moving to hold the front of his torn and dirty shirt desperately.

He marveled at her taste, she was so sweet and warm. Fire radiated from his chest as he felt her respond under him. He kissed her slowly, his tongue slipping languidly into her mouth to play with her own. She was his, this is what he wanted. His heart raced in his chest at the feeling of her pulling him closer.

The medic had lost her train of thought as soon as he brought his mouth to hers. He was so careful and timid as he sunk into her, like he was still afraid she would reject him. Her stomach immediately began fluttering with desire under his malleable lips. She brought her hand up from his chest to wrap lightly around his neck to pull him in to her.

"Kakashi..Sakura.."Pakkun stood as awkward as any pug could a few feet way.

They disentangle themselves quickly, snapping back into reality. Both of them slightly embarrassed of what the ninken had witnessed.

"What is it Pakkun?" The copy-ninja questioned slightly breathless.

"One of them has found the real trail…we need to go he's right behind me."

The two ninja were on their feet in seconds and moving out.

* * *

Ten minutes later a resounding crack burst into a tree beside Kakashi and they both dropped to the forest floor to face the enemy.

Norio dropped down quietly behind them; the dark shinobi had no trace of the smile he usually wore.

"So you're the one that causes the explosions?" Kakashi questioned, hoping for a small distraction. He hadn't been able to nail down the exact person that was causing the explosions, either time he face it.

Norio shrugged. "You got me…it's my Kekkei-genkai."

Kakashi nodded as he thought. "hmm…you don't use it very often..takes a lot of chakra huh?"

Norio shook his head held his arms out in a helpless display. "Actually it just gives me a killer head-ache afterwards…but I already have a migraine chasing you two all the way to the border and Jun and Nobu are right behind me...so…" He smiled slightly before inhaling deeply closing his eyes and releasing the breath with a slight wince. The crackling noise raced through the air toward them.

Kakashi rushed though a few hand signs and slammed his hand into the ground. He grabbed Sakura around the waist dragging her back to his chest, while turning away from the wall of rock that he just caused to jump out of the ground.

The explosion hit the wall like a stick of dynamite causing the surrounding area to shudder.

"Sakura..go!" he pushed her away from him.

She turned back eye's wide with confusion. "What no?!"

"Just go please! I will meet you in Suna. Sakura just go!

"Kakashi!"

"…**GO**! If we split up it will be harder for them to track us. I can hold this guy off for a few minutes, trust me!"

She stared at him as he opened his sharingan. "I can—"

"**Go now **that's an order! Me and the ninken can hold them off and confuse them. You need to get to Suna and tell Naruto!"

The kunoichi bit her lip as she moved from him to go; she looked over her shoulder to see him staring at her. "….I'll make it...I promise."

She turned and fled quickly, the sounds of battle fading as she moved away. Tears slid down her dirty cheeks as she pushed herself faster toward Suna. Kakashi was giving her this chance to get away, she wouldn't waste it.

* * *

**A/N**

_apologies if some parts of that disturbed you. I have a friend that is very queasy about torture and such. But life is dark and captured ninja don't bleed flowers and glitter.._

_..maybe a captured fairy does..who knows? If any of you capture and torture a fairy PM me with the details plz.._

**_Achievement Unlocked:: You have now gained access to the Side-Story 'The Road to Hell'. It is not very long (four chaps), but it is interestingish. You may proceed to my profile page and check it out. If you enjoyed the dark twistyness of this. You will enjoy tRtH._**

_/\_/\_

_Ninken Ears_


	14. Days gone by

_So remember the two chaps the pink and silver weeks._

_Sorta the same thing happening here only we switch between alot of differnt POVs_

_I labeled the days and times, anything that happens under that label is happening around the same time. No matter the POV_

_Consider the missed meeting at the river with Naruto's summon at Sunset day 0_

Oh yeah I haven't done this in a while : I do not own Naruto:

* * *

**_Days gone by_**

* * *

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -**_Second Sunet_**- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Shizune, anything?"

"No, Tsunade-sama."

The blonde sanin flipped another paper out of the pile she was working on and stacked it neatly into another. "..and it's been two days..?"

The short-haired poison expert stood before her Hokage's desk. Answering the questions she had already answered earlier that morning and then at again lunch. It had been almost two sunsets' since they were due to make contact with Sakura and Kakashi in Tani. Two days and no-one had seen hide-nor-hair of either, there wasn't even a whisper of a rumor of what may have happened. The Hokage was anxious and did her best to hide it, but she couldn't hide it from her friend.

"Two days…in a few hours" Shizune responded as she looked out toward the sun in the sky, willing it to tell her what happened to her pink-haired friend. It refused to answer.

"Naruto's summon—"

"… it still hasn't seen any trace of the Ninken. Naruto wants to take his team back in to Tani."

"No. He needs to stay in Suna. We can't have something happening to him also…"

"That's what I told him."

Tsunade looked up from her attempts at distracting herself with paper work and trained her eyes on her long time frien, chewing her lip in thought. "Shizune…get me Anbu."

The Hokage had dismissed the tardiness of contact the first night, irritatingly blaming her perpetually late team-leader. They waited, both in Suna and Konoha till the next morning and tried again. The toad saw nothing; it waited all day until long after dark, and the two shinobi in Tani failed to even send a Ninken to make contact. They had waited again, until morning and still no word had come.

It was then Tsunade began to worry. Naruto sent several of his summons' to the rivers in Tani to do some quiet scouting. The toads were not trackers like Kakashi's dogs, but they had eyes and could sense chakra. After hours of searching all over Tani, they turned up nothing. Kakashi and Sakura were not there.

The Hokage pulled the half empty bottle of Sake from her drawer and poured herself a tall glass, wondering if she had made a mistake. _'I should've sent a bigger team; I shouldn't have let them drop their henges.'_ She drained the cup quickly and poured another as she tried to drown her nerves with alcohol.

* * *

Thrity minutes later Shizune pushed open the big door to the Hokage office, eyes settling on the empty Sake bottle sadly. She moved to stand beside the blonde woman who was staring into the sun that was setting over city.

"Tsunade, Anbu should be arriving her soon, I told them the situation."

The two friends stood in solace, both vividly aware of the turmoil the other was feeling. Sakura was like a daughter to the Hokage, a sister to Shizune. When she had returned from the last mission with team seven, it was difficult enough to have to piece her back together physically while she mentally fell apart over the loss of Sai and her defeat at the campsite.

Kakashi was the ever-present, always elusive shinobi that could be counted on to do the right thing. He had suffered so much loss in his life it was sometimes hard to look at him without also seeing all the ghosts that constantly surrounded him. The return of his rouge Uchiha last year only added to the already heavy burden of failure he already carried. He had seemed so defeated in the council room after the last failed mission, like he had completely given up, refusing to offer any defense for himself.

The thought of either one of their comrades in trouble, after all they had been through, left both women without words. The idea of either of them experiencing another tragic event so close after the last one, left a bitter and worrying taste in their mouths. Team-seven didn't need another sad story to add to their book of memories. But both women knew they we're fooling themselves to think something wasn't wrong. Sakura and Kakashi were dependable shinobi. If they missed their rendezvous and failed to make contact, it was because they were physically unable.

So they stood together in a silent vigil as the sun set on the second day of their missing friends, both thinking what they didn't dare say.

* * *

An hour later Tsunade turned as she heard a man clear his throat, impatiently. He had entered the door Shizune left ajar, and trained his unhappy eyes on the Hokage who was staring blankly out into the darkness of Konoha.

"What do you want Takashi?" she spat out as if just the sound of his name in her mouth was disgusting and unbearable.

The older man grimaced at being called so informally. "Tsunade-sama, I ran in to Shizune at the Anbu office. I overheard her saying you wanted a team sent to find Hatake and Haruno."

Shizune slid her eyes toward the man and stepped away from her Hokage. Tsunade, the Council and the Elders had been at extreme odds since the war ended. This meeting was sure to be another show down, especially if he was bringing up Sakura and Kakashi.

The Sanin's gaze narrowed harshly. "**My ass** you over-heard Takashi, I know you and those geriatric Elders and that group of power mongers you call the Council are spying on me! When was the last time** you** set **a foot** in Anbu?!" She inquired harshly, venom in her voice.

"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about…"Takashi added with a dismissive hand gesture and a shake of his head.

Another man entered the office smoothly watching the theatrics unfold. He nodded politely to everyone in the room, gaining only suspicious, irritated glances from the two women.

"Good evening Hokage-sama, Shizune-san. I think Otari-san got a bit mixed up.** I** heard Shizune at Anbu and met him on the way here. I had to stop by the gate first to check something. Sorry I'm late."

Tsunade glared at the senior Anbu captain and council member. "You can't be late to somewhere you weren't expected Akihisa."

He shrugged indifferently.

"Otari-san, Mizuki-san….What do you need? Tsunade-sama is busy." Shizune interrupted the simmering stand-off that was happening in the room.

The senior Anbu turned to Shizune. "Tsunade requested a team of Anbu to go find Hatake and Haruno in River country. I'm putting in a formal request not to do that."

The older man nodded along. "Me also,along...I'm sure with other members of the council."

Tsunade slammed her hands down on her desk, the wooden frame snapped audibly through the center and crashed to the floor as she tried to rein in her massive temper. The increasing influence of these people in the village since the war ended was hindering her decision-making abilities tenfold. "Why** the hell** would you do **that**!?"

Takashi pursed his lips at her outburst, displeased. "It has only been two days Hokage-sama, surely this does not warrant sending an entire Anbu-squad. Also the last mission Hatake led ended horribly for our Anbu and for his team mates; it would do no good to lose other valuable Anbu, to an already lost cause..."

Akihisa nodded before he added his own un-wanted opinions "We lose ninja on missions to other countries all the time. They were under cover for the most part as Shizune told, who knows what happened to them. You should just give them more time if anything..its only been two days... if we send in a squad of Anbu it's going to look bad. Our ties with these countries are weak already… we can't go storming their gates because of careless ninja…"

As the two men spoke a masked Anbu flickered in to the room quietly, listening to the proceedings and awaiting orders.

She spoke through clenched teeth, and tried to keep her voice below shouting level as she replied. Her heart pounding over effort she was using control her temper."Are** you** trying to tell me...**that you** want me to** write off** one of the** best medics** we have in Konoha and **Hatake Kakashi** **the copy-ninja**?"

Akihisa shook his head. "That's not what I'm saying but take it how you want it, other medics can be trained, and Hatake's decision-making skills are debatable at best these days. I won't have you endangering my Anbu over your own irrational feelings for these two preferred shinobi."

The Hokages wrath was concussive to hear, as the Senior Anbu captain in two sentances, degraded her two lost Ninja and then proceeded to tell her what he wouldnt allow her to do. **"I am your Hokage!** **Do you think you can just walk in to my office and give me commands**?!"

She spun on the young masked Anbu. "**Get a team together!** **Find Kakashi and my fucking apprentice and do it now**!" The room shook with the force of her outburst.

"Do **not** follow that order." Akihisa said coolly as he looked at the Anbu.

The Anbu looked between the Hokage and his senior officer hesitating slightly under the pressure of both commands.

"Mizuki-san, did you document your formal recommendation?" Shizune piped in.

The Anbu senior glared at the dark-haired women. "Not yet..but I'm telling you right-"

"Well, the offices are closed and will open up again tomorrow at eight in the morning." She smiled graciously. "As you know, if you want the council to be able to bring this mission up for discussion you must file a formal recommendation, in written form... at the office."

The young Anbu man shifted his eyes back to the Hokage and Shizune in understanding. "Hokage-sama, I'm sure I can have a team ready to go before eight. I will report back here as soon as we are ready."

In a split second the masked-anbu was gone.

Takashi's eyes narrowed in disgust at the Hokage. "I assure you, we will revise that loop-hole Tsunade-sama." He turned to leave the room with the seething Anbu captain behind him.

Tsunade growled in frustration as the two men left. She threw her empty bottle against the door, watching as it exploded and slide down the wall. "What the hell is **wrong** with them!?"

Shizune shook her head. "I don't know some people will do anything for a little power."

Tsunade sunk back in to her chair sighing deeply. "Neji is going to get trouble for disobeying Takashi's orders like that; loop-hole or not he took sides against a senior captain. Make a note to have him transferred to my person staff when he returns, if he wants."

Shizune lowered herself in to the chair on the other side of the now collapsed desk, the papers all mixed together after they had collided in the center. "What do you think happened to Sakura and Kakashi?" she questioned meekly, worried what the answer might be.

The Sanin shook her head, rubbing her thumb and index finger at the space between her eyes as she felt a head ache coming on. "…Nothing good Shizune, we both know that." She sighed deeply. "Naruto's summon, it should be checking in…" She glanced at the clock. "…In an hour. Tell him our plans before he takes off by himself."

* * *

Naruto sat at the edge of the pond in the courtyard near the Kazekage dome. He tried to center himself and find peace. He focused on freeing himself, the stillness that came before his next inhale, and the steady rhythm of Hinata's own breathing as she sat beside him. He needed to relax, to gain and control over his emotions, empty the troubles from his mind. _'Relax, Peace, Quiet, Empty, Still.'_

It wasn't really working.

It had been two days since his team-mates had missed their scheduled debriefing. He had sent his toads all over Tani to search for traces of their familiar chakra, every time the summons returned he would get a surge of hope that maybe his comrades had been found. Every time his hope blossomed it would be slammed back to a gut wrenching agony as he was informed that they had still found nothing. _'Where are they? What happened to them?'_

He ran a frustrated hand through his hair as he waited for Tsunade's reply. He had just sent his toad off with his message. _"Still no sign of either of them, I'm going to ask Gaara to get a team together so we can search toward Tani."_

Shizune's reply was quick. _"No Naruto, stay in Suna. The Hokage is sending an Anbu squad out to Tani by the morning. Continue sending your summons to search over Tani. __**Naruto do not leave Suna**__."_

He scoffed and scratched out his response. _"I __**will**__ talk to Gaara, Shizune. If we can get a team together, I won't go but someone has to search from this side too. Its Sakura and Kakashi, we can't leave them if they are in trouble."_

It was twenty minutes before he heard an answer. He could just imagine Shizune hurrying up the hokage tower to tell an irritated Tsunade about his belligerent requests. _"Ok Naruto, talk to Gaara, but keep it quiet we don't know what happened….Contact again in eight hours."_

Hinata stood quietly as the meeting between the scroll finished. She reached her hand down and touched the blonde man gently on his shoulder. "Naruto…" She didn't know what else to say. They were all so worried.

Naruto stood up quietly as his girlfriend beckoned him. He looked toward the stars glinting brightly down upon him, and wondered if his comrades were out there somewhere doing the same.

* * *

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -_**Third Sunrise**_- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sakura slowed her break-neck pace as she came to the last few miles before Suna. _'Safe..I'm here..'_ The sky was turning a dreary grey as the first of the sun's rays peeked above the horizon. It had been two and a half days since she split up with Kakashi. She hadn't stopped, hadn't let herself stop. She kept her mind focused on the mission she needed to complete_. 'Get to Suna. Tell Naruto what happened in River country.'_

Wind country was a giant desert. At night it would freeze, the temperature dropping like a ton of bricks as soon as the sun went down. During the day it got hot, not as hot as in the summer because they were deep into fall now but it did get very, very windy. Her skin was chafed raw and burned from the harsh effects of the constantly blowing sand and glaring sun. The thin dress she had worn that night at the club was a dingy pile of rags covered in blood, sand, and sweat. Her lips were cracked bloody and dry. Her feet were a mess; she still didn't have any shoes. The lacerations on her arms kept splitting open, but she doggedly refused to waste precious chakra on them when she could use it to speed her flight toward Suna. _'Get to Suna. Tell Naruto what happened in River country.'_

As she slowed her pace, her mind began to relax. She had made it to Suna. She had made it alone, without her team-leader. He was still out there. She was here and he was out there. She was in Suna safe and where was he at all alone?

She replayed the last few minutes she had been with him. The soft kiss they shared beneath the tree that left her breathless and confused. The pleading look he had on his face as he sent her away and told her to leave. The harsh din of battle she left behind as she made her escape, under his orders to run to Suna and Naruto. He said would follow her.

'_He promised he would be here…'_ Against her better judgment she still held a spark of hope that he would make it to Suna. _'Don't fool yourself..he was about to face three Kekei-genkai users, weaponless and tired….'_

Sakura dropped to a walk as she came in sight of the wall around Suna, holding her hand up in greeting to the men that approached her. She was no stranger here, she spent several weeks here a year helping to strengthen their young medics. Suna never had many medics to begin with and most of the experience medics they did have had been lost during the war. Tsunade quickly offered Sakura's skill to help the Sand village reorganize the hospitals. She also helped to train the young medic-ninja that were in desperate need of a skilled shinobi to teach them.

"Haruno-san?" one of the men questioned in confusion.

"Yes Mitsugo-san, I need to see Naruto."

"We already sent word to the Kazekage as soon as we saw you approaching."

The guard shifted his gaze to look her and furrowed his brow, his voice laced with worry. "Haruno-san, I think we should take you to the hospital..."

The medic looked down at herself and felt the first wave of fatigue hit her since she had begun her wild escape through the night toward the village hidden in the sand. "Yes. I think so too.."

* * *

"hmmm …Ok Naruto, I'll get Temari to gather a small squad to search for Sakura-san and Hatake-san. Except for Temari, I will not tell them who they are searching for; they will be told they are looking for a strange ninja that was reported between here and Tani. My council would not understand sending a squad to search for Shinobi from other countries." Gaara stood looking over the vast desert that stretched out beyond his village, as the sun peeked out over the horizon.

He had remained quiet as his blonde friend explained the situation that was causing all three Konoha shinobi so much worry, and the Hokage's plans to send a squad of Anbu toward Tani. He would help his friends' scout this side of the map to look for their missing comrades because he knew they wouldn't and hadn't hesitated to help him when he needed it.

"Why would they have a problem, Sakura-chan is here every spring and summer helping to rebuild your hospital. Kakashi-sensei has helped Suna in tons of missions." Naruto exclaimed in frustration.

Gaara shrugged and shook his head slightly. "They have a problem with everything Naruto. They think Sakura is the least Konoha owes us for the loss of our medic ninja in the war, and Kakashi, Naruto….you know Kakashi's part in the war. An easier target for their anger would be hard to find."

"What do you mean?! We almost all died out there, Kakashi-sensei was one of the division captains!"

"I understand Naruto. I'm not arguing, I like and respect Hatake-san. The council sees things differently, everyone knows about Obito. Kakashi was one of the major catalyst's that started the war even if he didn't ask for it. In their eyes it's as much his fault as it is Obito and Madara's. They also will never forget who trained Sasuke Uchiha and let him go rouge."

Naruto turned from Gaara, irritated at his friend. He paced around the roof of the tall building he had located the Kazekage on, shaking his head and organizing his thoughts. He knew it was all true, but that didn't mean he had to accept it. He had heard the rumors and back talking about his team, it seemed no matter how much good you did, someone was always there to pick apart your flaws._ The Kyuubi-demon, the masked-failure, the Robot-root agent and their useless-pink-whore_, those were some pet names that various circles of the Shinobi world had given to the members of team-seven.

Shikamaru lifted his head from his position of lying on his back staring at the brightening sky, and gave an annoyed glance to the pacing blonde man. "Tch, Naruto. It's fine. Gaara said he will help, it doesn't matter if no-one else will…what matters is we got the go-ahead." The tactician stood up slowly, his lazy mannerism hiding the fact that he was as worried as his other two comrades.

"Yeah Shikamaru your right…."Naruto agreed.

"hmmm, I'll be going with them. Tsunade's letter said for you not to leave Suna, she didn't mention me. I'll go find Temari and we'll leave as soon as we can."

"I'm going too." Hinata stepped forward to join her lazy comrade. "She didn't say my name either and my Byakugan can cover a large area and save time."

Gaara frowned toward the three leaf-ninja, silently thankful they weren't his shinobi to control. "You know what the Hokage meant..."

Naruto cracked a wide grin at his two sly team-mates as they maneuvered themselves in to the search for Kakashi and Sakura.

"How do I know what she meant?" Shikamaru shrugged

"She wasn't very…. specific…" Hinata added trailing off quietly.

All eyes turned toward the door on the roof as it burst open, revealing a slightly irritated looking Sand-ninja. "Kazekage, I've asked you before to let us know when you're going to do this." He motioned toward the random rooftop they stood on.

Gaara's dark eyes stared impassively back at the member of his personal guard. "I come here to get away from you, why would I tell you where I'm at?"

The man exhaled a sigh of defeat and shook his head. "Well, we got a message from the gate-guards. Sakura Haruno just showed up. She's at the hospital. I didn't know Haruno-san was coming she usually only comes in the spri-" His tirade was cut short as his audience disappeared before him, leaving him standing on one of the tallest roofs in Konoha, overlooking the desert and wondering why he had been so excited to be assigned to the Kazekage guard a year ago.

* * *

Sakura's eyes cut in to the auburn curly haired youth that stood before her. "I need to get out of here, if you can't do it I will."

The young woman frowned at the IV bag in her hands and then toward the rumored Sakura Haruno from Konoha. "I'm sorry, I just…you're making me nervous…"

"I know, its fine just give me the needle and the bag…" The medic stretched out her hand, she needed fluids she was dehydrated and exhausted.

"Sakura-san, I can work on the injuries on your arm, till someone more experienced comes in, I'm good at repairing-"

"No don't, please. I…just don't.." She refused to look at the bloody reminders of her time in the small room with Kakashi. She didn't want anyone else to touch them. Strange hands gave her the injuries; she would heal them with her own. _'More scars…'_

She silently inserted the needle, and hung the bag beside her. She began preparing to heal her raw, wind-burnt skin, now that there was no threat of an enemy attack.

"Where is she?!" a familiar voice called down the hallway. A scuffle and a crash preceded the appearance of her long missed team-mate.

Tears Sakura didn't realize she was holding back began to blind her vision as Naruto stood in the doorway of the small hospital room looking at her, his face covered with dim horror as he took in her appearance.

Shikamaru, Hinata and Gaara filed in the room past the stunned blonde ninja.

A desperate emotion clutched her chest, and she found herself unable to stop as hope formed into words she feared to ask. "Has Kakashi made any contact with you?"

"Kakashi.. no..? isn't he with you Sakura?" Hinata posed with worry.

Naruto's brows furrowed in confusion at his pink-haired team-mates expectant question. He moved in to the room and shut the door as the curly haired medic walked out "No we haven't heard from you two since before you were going to that club, Sakura-chan what happened in Tani?"

She shook her head as the weight of his words hit her. The tiny flame of hope she held blew out like a candle before a huge storm.

_Kakashi's smile, his face, and the way he kissed her in the hotel room. The Fight they had when she went out with Akino. Akino, his last breaths and the suffering he went through just because he had met them. Kakashi and how he ignored her harshly after they first kissed. The way he looked all dressed up, his tie dangling around his neck despite Karu's best efforts to make him presentable. Karu, the way he betrayed them to save himself and Akino. The irony of it all, if Karu had just told them the truth! They would have helped. They could still be alive! It could have all been different. _

She was so angry and so distraught and so tired. The exhausted Kunoichi closed her eyes and shut the world out to regain her composure. Finally she opened her eyes after a few moments to stare at the people in the room. "We need to go find him, he's in trouble. Just let me heal myself a little and someone get me some gear. " She ordered, quickly taking her foot in her hand to begin healing it.

A pregnant pause descended on the room.

All four Shinobi exchanged long glances with each other. They looked toward the dirty mess of a Kunoichi that sat on hospital bed, her hand wrapped around her foot and an IV dripping into her arm.

It was a very pregnant pause.

The three Konoha ninja looked at each other again, Shikamaru and Hinata cutting their eyes at Naruto. She was his team-mate he should say something.

Naruto creased his brow in irritation and shook his head at them. She was his team-mate. He didn't want to argue with her. He knew what could happen if she lost her temper, she was worse than Tsunade sometimes.

Gaara's watched all three leaf shinobi. This was their drama. He had seen and heard enough of the pink haired women's ability to yell on her several visits to Suna. Temari was more enough for him to deal with.

Sakura raised her head from inspecting her feet and narrowed her eyes at the people in the room that were having a silent conversation. "I'm going." she hissed, sensing the reason behind their hushed stand-off.

"Sakura-chan…you just got back—"Naruto sighed as he entered the arena that was called 'telling-Sakura-not-to-do-something.'

"Naruto! You don't know what happened to us! We need to hurry up! I am going!"

"But Sakura, you're tired and weak—"

"I'm **not** weak!"

"I'm not saying your weak, you're just tired. You should—"

"You think I haven't been more tired than this?! Do you remember the war?! I'm fine!"

"**Yes I remember** Sakura! I was there fighting on the front-

"So **you** think because **I** wasn't—"

"Sakura! Your being **crazy.** "

"I'm **not** crazy! We need to go find Kakashi, Naruto!"

The volume of their combined voices was echoing throughout the hospital, like the cracking and rumbling of a huge thunderstorm. Shikamaru rolled his eyes and looked skyward for help as the two members of team-seven's had a pissing contest. _'This isn't going to work this way. What a pain' _

"Hey hey hey…..that's enough..." The Nara man snapped his fingers a few times in the air to gain everyones attention"….Sakura, you're too weak right now you will slow us down. We need to travel fast and you're already fatigued. Even if it's not a lot, you're still not in peak condition. If something does happen and we come in to contact with an enemy, you could put us in danger by not being fully recovered. I'm sorry you can't go with us." Shikamaru's cool logic cut right to the source of the issue and left the room in a gaping silence.

The medic's eyes slammed to the floor along with her heart as the strategist made an argument she couldn't win. Her chest tightened at the thought of having to sit and wait, as they were out searching for her silver-haired Jounin.

"Sakura, you can't go back out there you're worn out." Hinata stepped toward her friend carefully; eyeing the injuries on her body, her gaze, along with everyone else's falling immediately on the incredible lacerations down her arm.

"She's right Sakura, we were about to leave to search for you two, right before you arrived." Shikamaru added with a frown, hoping to smooth over any hard feelings she might have toward him.

"I'll go get Temari to gather a small team, meet at her at the east gate in forty minutes." Gaara looked to Hinata and Shikamaru as he spoke. He paused at the door and offered the tired Kunoichi on the bed a weary glance. "Sakura stay here and rest, I will make sure you are taken care of." With that the Kazekage left the room closing the door behind him silently.

"Sakura-chan….what happened…to you guys in Tani?" Naruto asked softly, his concern creeping back up on him as the situation was being rectified.

"Shikamaru, do you still have your maps on you?" Sakura ignored Naruto's questioning gaze, unable to deal with it just yet.

The strategist nodded absently his eyes meticulously traveling over her body and then down the long even cuts down her arm, his brain quickly tossing away all the illogical ways she could have acquired them and settling on the fact that either she did it herself. _'Not likely.'_ Or someone did it too her. That would explain abrupt flight from Tani, and if they were being pursued they could have gotten split up. She was in something that could have been called a dress, and she had no shoes. Thats not something you wear when you plan on traveling. They were running and fast. _'Tortured…and escaped and ran... while being chased they split up… the most likely answer.'_

"Shikamaru!" she called again. "Give me your maps!" she stood wincing slightly as her feet hit the cold floor, brushing off Naruto's arm as he tried to help her.

Shikamaru dragged himself out of his analysis at her command. He pulled out the maps he constantly had in his flak vest hand handed over them to the determined woman.

The medic turned and laid the maps down on the bed and motioned for them all to come see what she was showing them.

"Here is where we split up." She pointed to an area between two rivers.

She traced her finger along the path she took toward Suna, eliciting a few questions from all of her teammates about the weather, how fast she was going and what time of day they left.

Hinata took the maps scanning them briefly and folded them back up, handing them over to Shikamaru. "Ok Sakura, we are going now. Stay here, recover and don't worry." She reached and gave her friend a light hug that was returned limply without reply. "Naruto I need to talk to you alone before we go." She nodded toward the door and the blonde man followed her.

Shikamaru folded the map up and tucked it into one of the pockets and gave his injured friend a nod. "Ok Sakura. Stay here with Naruto; we have to get ready to go." He turned from her and strode purposefully toward the door.

Sakura lurched forward to grab Shikamaru's hand as he turned to leave the room. A flood of terror crept over her that she could not explain_. 'They have to find him I have to see him again...'_ She held his hand tightly in her own, staring at him as he turned around with a questioning gaze. "Shikamaru…please find him…please..you have to find him..." she pleaded, tears brimming in her eyes as she tried to blink them back. A desperate hope clung to her words.

The shadow-user stared at the despairing women that latched on to his hand and was reminded vaguely of the way she pleaded with Naruto to bring Sasuke back to Konoha at the gate, years and years ago_. 'I never thought she would look sadder then at that moment, I was wrong.'_ He looked her over and forced a small reassuring smile, while squeezing her hand. "Yeah Sakura, we'll find him."

* * *

"Naruto, I'll go to the pond and send the message to Tsunade about Sakura. Stay with her, she needs a friend. She has been through a lot." Hinata whispered outside of the door of the hospital room.

"I know Hinata, did you see her arm, and the way she looks…she not even talking about what happened..what do I say?" he asked frantically .

"Just be her friend Naruto, that's what she needs."

Shikamaru stepped out and eyed the whispering couple as he shut the door.

"I am her friend. I just don't know what to say..What happened to them out there?" Naruto gave a frustrated growl irritated that his pink-haired comrade was locking him out of her emotions.

Shikamara caught Hinata's eye and nodded toward the exit. "We need to go."

Naruto nodded, reaching forward to embrace his byakugan-user tightly before releasing her. "Bring him back.…"

* * *

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -**_Third Sunset_**- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The copy-ninja sank to his knees along-side a small outcropping of rocks as he felt his legs give out. The stunning brilliance of the last rays of sunlight slipped over the horizon, the light urgently clutching to the rough terrain, trying to hang on despite its inevitable end, reflecting the desperate situation the leaf-ninja found himself in.

It had taken two days for him to lose all the pursuing ninja from Tani and he hadn't stopped running. He originally fled north, using his sharingan to evade and confuse the enemy. He had used almost every bit of chakra he had during the four separate skirmishes he was forced in to, he had even had to resort to using his mangekyo against some of the jutsu attacks he couldn't evade. It was no easy task, trying to fight off several high-level kekkei-genkai users simultaneously. The heavy strain on his already weakened system was catching up to him.

His shredded arm had reopened; Sakura's quick fix was no match for the violent abuse it had suffered. The injuries scabbed over frequently only to break open again and again. It hurt to breath, and after a brief inspection he discovered that it was probably because of the enormous blacked bruise that spread across his ribs. His back hurt also, but he couldn't remember when he had gotten hit there. Really he couldn't remember any of it. His chakra was dangerously low, his heartbeat seemed like it was dangerously high, and his vision seemed to be narrowing dangerously fast and he was beginning to move dangerously slow.

'_I need to rest, if they find my trail now it won't matter, they'll catch me.'_ He leaned to sit back against the rough surface of the closest rock.

"Pakkun, how are all the guys holding up?" he croaked as he forced his trademark smile to ease the worry that was building in the bodies of the two ninken that traveled with him.

"Kakashi, we're fine…you did most of the work. We just ran around." The little pug offered with a concerned tone.

Kakashi tilted his head slightly and shrugged, beating down the urge to wince as a stab of pain shot up his back. "I wouldn't have been able to get away if not for you guys, I'm glad we worked on that new technique."

Guruko thumped his tail at the compliant. "Rest boss, we got the three moving south to scout toward Suna and the other four in the north. Me and Pakkun will stand watch, you need to rest. We can leave again in the morning."

"Besides Kakashi, you hurt that smiling guy pretty bad yesterday. They probably had to take him to get help. We haven't smelled anything since the middle of yesterday, they either lost us or had to turn back, or both. We're already deep in to Wind country now…."Pakkun added.

The masked-man leaned his head back against the rock closing his eyes wearily. "I'm just going to rest for a little while. " He mumbled as he tried to shift his position to a more comfortable angle, but here was no more comfort to be had from the bulky rock.

He closed his eyes and let the quiet consume him, but rest did not come easily no matter how tired he was. It never did for the copy-ninja. He immediately began picking apart the mistakes he had made on the mission.

'_I should have never trusted Kobiyashi so much, I should have had one of the dogs outside of the club, I shouldn't have let Sakura leave for Suna alone. _

He sighed deeply and shook his head. _'Sakura…what have I done?'_

His constant worry over his pink-haired medic would not be subdued. His chest felt tight and empty as he thought back to the moment he had kissed her at the base of the tree. It was what he wanted, it felt so right and she wanted it too. In those few moments all of his doubts had drifted away, and all he felt was the bliss of being with her. The bitter reality of life had pulled him from the cathartic experience too soon, and he longed for more time with her.

'_I sent her away, alone…'_ The feeling of uncertainty over his decision to order her to run to Suna settled deep on his shoulders. He had ordered her to get to Suna and explain what had gone wrong; he would hold off the enemy ninja. '_Did she make it… or is she out here somewhere like me… or is she dead?'_ The last thought sent a stab of guilt deep in to his chest, he would never forgive himself if something happened to her out there alone.

He promised her he would make it to Suna. _'I promised….'_ He sighed again, wondering if this would be just another broken promise that made up the broken road his life had become. What if she was waiting in Suna and he never made it? It would hardly be the first time he had failed to keep his word to someone he cared for.

_Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx_

_He thought back to when he was a young promising student, all proud and chauvinistic. He had glared angrily at the useless shinobi that his dad had become. Sakumo Hatake sat idly on the front stoop of their small house, staring blankly out in to the street._

_His mom stepped up behind him, touching him lightly on the shoulder, he looked up at her, grimacing as she fixed his mask to an appropriate height on his face. "Why are you wearing that Kakashi?"_

_The silver-haired boy glared toward his father in silence. Everyone was talking about his father's failed misson. Everyone stared at him all day; avoided him like failure was a disease they could catch. _

_He looked just like his dad, everyone always said so. Now he looked like a failure and everyone said that too._

_His mom shook her head sadly and looked toward her husband. "You're too young Kakashi…one day you will understand why-"_

"_I don't want to understand…"_

_She grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around to face her, startling him with the aggressive move. "You **promise me**…you will never be ashamed of your father. He would give his life for you. He loves you so much. You never betray that love with selfish feelings…"_

_The young Hatake lowered his gaze to the floor and nodded. "I promise…"_

_But he didn't, he broke the promise as soon as he walked out the door past the man he called father._

_It had been three weeks since he had come back to Konoha a failure, and Kakashi hated him for it. It was another three months from that day his father took his own life. Six months later, sick with the grief of losing her husband and the fear of losing her only son to the same path, his mother passed away._

_He lived in shame; trying to compensate for his father's proclaimed short-comings. He hid his face, trying to hide what could be connected to the failure that was his father, behind a black mask._

_He broke the un-written promise he had with his team-mates to protect them, and Obito died._

_He broke the last desperate promise Obito asked of him, and he let Rin die._

_He broke the promise of loyalty he had with Minato and left Naruto all alone to raise himself, without any guidance, the boy was ridiculed and rejected and he did nothing about it._

_He broke the promise he made when he took the oath before he was assigned his team to train; he failed to guide Sasuke down the right path. He had failed to show him the correct way in life and so many people had suffered from his faults as a sensei._

_He broke the promise to Sakura years ago when he said that everything would go back to the way it was. It was a selfish thing to say, he wanted to believe it, but in the end his words to her were ash and dust._

_He broke the promise to Asuma to always be there to back him up, and now his child would never know him._

_He broke the promise he protect Konoha when Pein destroyed everything._

_He had broken his promise to Sakura again when he left her alone and worried at the campsite with Sai. He told her they would all be home soon. Sai died in front of her and she was almost killed too._

_He had broken his word so much to the people he cared about the most that no matter how many times he stood at the memorial stone, reflecting and searching for answers, forgiveness for his mistakes would not replace the regret and guilt he was filled with._

_So he hid his face, he hid the failure that could be connected to the brave memory of his father. He hid the face that broke promises to the people he loved the most, behind a black mask._

_Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxx_

The copy-ninja slipped in to a light painful sleep, his dreams filled with the memories of the past and the torments of the now. His two ninken sitting guard as the stars slipped through the sky.

* * *

After the others left Naruto had sat in the hospital room with Sakura. She had healed her feet and started to work on her arm, falling in to a fretful sleep before she finished. She was so tired.

She woke up as the sun was dropping low in the sky.

"Naruto, have you just been sitting here?" she muttered wearily

"Yeah, Sakura…but… I have to go contact Tsunade and update her." He stood raising his hands above his head to stretch. "I'll run the shower for you. You look like you could use one…" a small sad smile pulled at his mouth.

The medic looked down at herself, she was draped in the disgusting purple gowns that Suna used in their hospitals, the tattered threads of the dress she was wearing had be carted away. She was dirty, gods she was dirty. She watched her teammate enter the bathroom that was across from her bed and seconds later the sound of running water filled the room.

"Uhh..I'll stop by the store on my way back and get you some stuff, all they have is this." He held up a tiny bottle of some weird smelling shampoo and wrinkled his nose. "I'll only be a few minutes…"

Sakura nodded her head silently as she stared toward the bathroom. She only turned to look up at her blonde comrade when she felt him put his firm hand on her shoulder and squeeze. "Sakura-chan, it's going to be ok. You can talk to me; we've known each other forever…"

She only nodded again, unable to voice the swirling tide of emotions she was feeling. It was too much she didn't know where to start.

Naruto sighed and squeezed her shoulder again before turning away. "I'll be right back..."

* * *

And just like that the pink-haired woman was left alone with her thoughts. A place she didn't want to be. She got up and walked to the bathroom, disrobing before she stepped in to the shower. She tried to breathe deeply and empty her mind, to stop herself from cracking wide open.

It didn't work.

As soon as she was alone without the distraction of the others, without the pressure to keep her emotions about the mission in Tani and inappropriate feelings for her team-leader repressed, she broke down. Tears began spilling over her face as she stood in the relaxing water. She put her hands on the wall of the shower and hung her head as she let the pain wash over her. _'He's gone…he's gone and I'll never see him again. He was my best friend. He did so much for me he's always been there for me..and now..' _A sob broke through her chest as she cast her thoughts over the mission in Tani that had changed everything

_Kobiyashi and Akino, the way they were the first day she met them. The amusing way Karu would fluster Kakashi. Her memories skipped to the way Karu gasped as he was stabbed through the chest and tossed aside like trash..Than the less then amusing way Akino and Kakashi felt about each-other. Her mind jumped to the image of Kakashi supporting a bloody and wrecked Akino, ready to help him escape when it would be easier just to leave him. But he wouldn't abandon an injured comrade, regardless of his animosity toward him._

'_He's such a good man…better then I ever deserved.'_

She sunk down and let the water pour over her body as she gave in and began to cry. Weeping for what was, and what could never be.

Naruto walked back in the room twenty minutes later. He had sent a message updating the Hokage on Sakura's condition. The Sanin was getting impatience and wanted to know what had happened in Tani. _'She can get in line..'_ he mused dryly.

He knocked on the door to the bathroom, unsurprised it was still running. Sakura would be in the shower for days if she could.

He frowned as no reply came and nudged the door open, holding the bag of supplies he had got for her at the store. He had even found her favorite shampoo, which he was pretty proud of himself for remembering.

The sound of a muffled sob coming from the shower made him pause. He listened to the sound of his team-mate falling to pieces in the shower, the sound of her anguish and despair filled the room more thickly then the steam the hot water gave off.

Sakura new Naruto was there, she tried to still herself as she heard him enter, but the idea of her blonde team-mate asking her what happened in Tani, again, brought a fresh wave of sorrow. She wrapped her arms tighter around her legs, burying her face in her knees.

Naruto gently set the bag on the counter and grabbed a towel. He couldn't leave her alone like this. He pulled the curtain aside softly, and turned off the water before draping the towel over his long time friends trembling shoulders. "Sakura-chan, come on…" He put a hand on her back, averting his eyes as much as possible to protect her modesty.

She stood slowly, tears and water running down her face as she pulled the towel around her body. "

The blonde man stepped in the shower and wrapped his teammate in his arms, pulling her close to his chest. "That shampoo wasn't that bad was it Sakura-chan?" he was rewarded with a small tired burst of choked laughter from the women in his arms and what sounded like a muffled "Idiot.".

She laid her head on his shoulder as she got her breathing and emotions back in to check. "..Everything changed in Tani…it…it…went so wrong."

He nodded his head as he held her. "What changed?"

She hesitated. _'I can't tell him what happened between me and Kakashi.'_ She wanted to, he was her friend. But she couldn't burden him with the weight of her own dereliction from protocol.

She spent that night going over the mission, explaining the details of everything they had discovered. Speaking the painful truth about the injuries on her arm, crying and watching Naruto's anger as he learned about the abuse his team-mates suffered. She explained about the merchants and the book they had found, that was useless now unless Kakashi was brought back. She told what happened at Swift River and how Kobiyashi had drugged them. She explained everything about the mission except for what went on in those quiet moments between her and her team-leader.

* * *

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -**_Fourth Sunset_**- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The sharingan user walked silently toward Suna, his two ninken panting beside him. There had been no trace of the enemy for two days now. His body was throbbing with pain; the cuts on his arms burned and were hot to the touch. Breathing was a forced effort that he agonized through. The shredded blue button-up shirt and slacks offered no protection from the blowing wind and sand that tore at him. It would be dark soon and the soon the temperature would drop. He needed to make it to Suna. He needed to make it to Suna yesterday.

"Kakashi.." Pakkun called to his weak summoner.

The copy-ninja glanced down at his pug and gave a tiny eye-crinkle. "hnnn?"

"Look, someone's coming, not the enemy." The ninken looked off in a southeast direction.

The Jounin peered in the direction his dogs were looking, trying to make out the shapes, his vision was so foggy.

A sharp yip from Guruko followed by an excited snort from Pakkun made him look back to his dogs wearily.

"Boss it's the guys, the guys are with them." Guruko proclaimed as the caught scent of the other ninken

"Ahh…" The masked man stopped moving forward and stood still, being battered from behind by a strong north wind.

The group of Shinobi approached with the four Ninken, staring the strange sight of Hatake Kakashi, standing in the middle of the desert, his hands in the pockets of his bloody, grimy and tattered slacks. The arm of his blue shirt had been ripped away, the other left long with a few cuts large tears in it. His bare arm was partly scabbed over, red and swollen. He wore what could have been nice attire at one time, but now he looked like some kind of death-reaper from a scary story, all pale, gaunt and bloody. He still had an unmistakable air of confidence that floated off of him, even in his extreamely deteriorated state. There was no mistaking the Copy-ninja no matter how he appeared.

"Hey guys…" His voice wavered as he tried for a light-hearted tone, forcing a small smile. He recognized some their faces not that they were closer.

His body was beginning to betray him and he felt a painful tremor travel down his spine to his leg and he inhaled deeply trying to maintain his focus.

Shikamaru took in the appearance of the Jounin and frowned_. 'He was walking through the desert, and hardly walking at that..Ninja don't walk…especially through the uncomfortable desert, unless you can't do anything else… _' "Kakashi we're going to take you back to Suna-"

"Is Sakura there?" the masked-man rasped, his weary gaze settled on Shikamaru. His words saturated with apprehension, afraid of the answer.

The tactician nodded quietly as he watched the silver-haired man sway weakly in front of him. "She got there, yesterday morning. She's ok."

A surge of relief swept through Kakashi Shikamaru's words sunk in to him. _'She's ok, she made it…she's ok…'_ He relaxed, his mind letting his body release desperate hold it had to get to Suna. He closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. "Shikamaru…."

"Yeah…?"

"I'm about to pass out…"He tipped forward his knee's buckling under his weight.

Shikamaru closed the distance between himself and the masked-man, catching him before he could hit the ground. "…I know…" he mumbled to the now unconscious man.

Temari pulled a scroll out of her pack and rushed it over Shikamaru. "Here, instant teleportation scroll. It will transport you right to the hospital; you need to get him there now."

Hinata helped Temari and one of the other Sand-ninja set up the scroll.

"You two go... It will only take three people; we will go back on foot." Temari motioned toward the two Konoha ninja.

They nodded and set off the jutsu that was in the scroll.

* * *

Sakura sat quietly at the desk in the room she had been put in next to her comrades. The sinking sun marking the fourth day since they had separated on the border of River country. They still had no word from the team that was sent to find him yet. She shook her head and tried to focus on finishing up the mission debriefing Tsunade wanted._ 'Just finish this…just finish this one thing.'_

The fight for control over her anxiety was never ending, she had to keep busy or she would crumble.

Her door slammed open loudly and she turned to see a wide-eyed Naruto standing breathlessly in her doorway. "Naruto...I thought you were meeting with Gaara?"

"Sakura…they found him…they just teleported in to the hospital ten minutes ago."

Her heart swam with joy at his first words, but then was submerged in fear. She stood quickly, knocking her chair over in the process. "Is he ok?" she asked knowing the answer. You don't jump in to a hospital because you need a booster shot.

They exchanged a long knowing glance before they both flew from the room in the direction of the hospital.

* * *

**_A/N_**

_Another beast of a chapter. -_- I know... I thought about splitting it up but, no, it's better like this. _

___Hope you guys didn't get confused with the different POVs and days. I tried to make it understandable..._

_ I had a **really **tough time writing this chap. **Really really** tough._

_Sorry about the longer then usual time it took me to update. I had a crazy time at work and that on top of everything else I do, plus stupid thanksgiving...I was slightly delayed._

_If you guys are good I'll update again on monday! lol..j/k **be bad** its more fun and I'll still update on monday._

_R&R _

_/\_/|_

_Ninken ears_


	15. Healing

_I own many, many things. One of those things is not Naruto, and neither is the rest of them._

_**Healing**_

* * *

Sakura and Naruto burst in to the hospital like a force of nature, drawing concerned looks from the staff and patients as they both hesitated for a moment, on the balls of their feet ready to take off again.

"Where –"Naruto called out, interrupted before he could even start.

"Kakashi!?" Sakura shouted in the direction of the nurses' station.

"Room 128 on the right.." A medic she recognized training last year called out, pointing through the double doors that led to the left wing of the building.

And they were off again.

The pink haired medic was deep in the zone. Emotions were shoved aside; logic and critical thinking took over. When seconds could be the difference between you comrade living another day, and burying them deep in the ground, you left your feelings at the door and proceeded with your skill and knowledge.

Room 128 shifted in to view, Shikamaru and Hinata stood outside of the door gazing in, looking up as they heard the rapid sound of footsteps.

"Sakura-"Hinata called her name but she didn't stop to hear what she had to say. She slowed her run to a jog and skid in to the doorway, surveying the organized chaos that was going on in the large emergent room.

""Huruno-san, I'm so glad you're here!" called out a relived feminine voice that was attached to a familiar face.

"Ayoki-san...tell me what's going on." The lioness entered her den and all the lesser beasts took note of her arrival and parted before her. She moved to the unconscious man on the bed, pulling her chakra carefully into her hands and laying them on her team-leader.

"Multiple lacerations on his arm seem to have become infected, he is tachi-cardic. His blood pressure is down. He has a high fever. He has multiple contusions along the left side of his abdomen and his back, some broken ribs. We are worried about internal bleeding—"

She listened to the suna-medic list off their findings as her hands danced across Kakashi's body. _'Gods Kakashi..don't do this..'_ His breaths were coming short and quick, and his severely injured arm was radiating heat like an oven. How did he last this long?

"Ayoki..he's in septic shock. Help me…help me now!" she ordered loudly, a frantic edge to her voice as she climbed up on the hospital bed and straddled the man that was flirting with organ failure. She made short work of his cutting off his black undershirt open before she laid her hands on his bare stomach, pushing her smooth green chakra in to his body. _'No Kakashi, you're not going to come all the way here, and die.'_

She locked eyes on a startled looking young man in glasses. "You… do you have decent chakra control?!"

He nodded quickly. "uhh yeahh—"

"Get over here." He nodded again and moved toward Kakashi. "Start at the top of his arm where the lacerations start and pull the infection slowly, very slowly down toward his hand—"

"I've never done that before I don't-"

"You've learned how to separate toxins from blood right, it's the same idea but smaller. Try."

The young man nodded again and set to work, his brow quickly become slick with sweat over the extreme amount of chakra control needed for the task.

Ayoki was already hard at work near Kakashi's chest doing the same, trying to ease the toxic blood away from his heart, slowly and carefully.

Sakura bent over the unconscious man under her as she maneuvered her chakra through the intricate maze of organs. Most of which, were about to give up and close shop after being forced through so much trauma in the past few days. It was a slow meticulous process but it was the best chance he had.

* * *

Shikamaru, Naruto and Hinata stood back from the doorway staring in at their two team-mates.

Kakashi lying on the bed silent and unmoving, his body was struggling to overcome what was happening to it.

The other straddling him, her pink hair yanked back into a short pony-tail her face contorted with concentration, as she tried to drag him back from the brink.

Naruto stepped forward to ask the pink-haired medic how Kakashi was doing, only to be stopped by Hinata's hand on his shoulder. "Naruto, don't…let them work…"

And he did, slumping against the wall and lowering himself to the ground. Shikamaru quickly followed and eventually Hinata slid down beside him. And they waited and watched.

More medics filtered in to the room or stood with them in the hall, some taking the time to explain what was happening. Most of them just wanted to get a glimpse of the Hokage's apprentice in action and see what she would do to help the Copy-ninja who came to the hospital at death's door.

* * *

After forty minutes of work the young man stepped back and braced himself on the wall, heaving out heavy breaths, the back of his scrubs drenched with sweat. He tried to form words of apology but couldn't between his desperate gasps for air.

Ayoki nodded quietly to a pair of medic-nin that had come in to watch and help if needed. "You take his place." She motioned toward the curly-haired women that Sakura had taken the IV from a few days ago. "And you...Fujimoto...take my place...I need a break..." She stepped away from the bed, catching her breath as the replacements moved in.

After another twenty minutes of working on him Sakura looked up to the craggy face of the elder medic-ninja, Fujimoto, who had his eyes closed as he focused on his worked. "How are you doing Fuji?"

"We're doing ok right now; his heart is steadier Haruno." His gruff voice answered.

"And you.." she nodded to the curly-haired woman

"Mei.." she panted. "I'm Mei…I think I have this under control, I just need to drain it…"

"Ok Mei…just cut him open, right around the wrist, it doesn't need to be big, but it needs to be deep. Use your chakra to pull out only the infected blood, maintain control. I don't want to see any spray…"

The girl nodded and grabbed a nearby scalpel, obviously not comfortable with her chakra scalpel enough to use it on Sakura Haruno's team-leader. It was a good choice in Sakura's eyes no need to impress people when a life is on the line.

After a few moments the splatter of blood on the hospital floor preceded the sickly sweet stench of rancid infection that filled the room. The silent group of people that gathered to watch the medics work all took a step back from the disgusting smell.

Sakura nodded. "Good mei, very good, I want you to check that area again, make sure there's nothing lingering and insert a drain."

Mei nodded and went to work.

"Sakura, do you need me to take over? It's been almost ninety minutes now?" Ayoki questioned ready to go again if she was needed.

"No I'm ok…" Her arms trembled, she could feel the pulsing headache starting behind her head, and her body was soaked with sweat. But she would not leave him in the hands of someone else. "Fuji..?"

"Yeah Sakura….I need somewhere to put all this shit…" he wheezed as he nodded toward his hands that shook with effort as they tried to hold all the infection from floating back into his bloodstream.

They were acting like human filters collecting and gathering all of the infection that pumped through his system, while healing the damage that had already been caused.

Being a filter was a lot harder than it seemed, they had to worry about not squeezing, pinching or bursting anything of importance, all the while picking and pulling away minuscule particles that were just variably different from the rest of everything else. It was like trying to find needles in a stack of slightly brighter needles that were all floating down a river.

"Ok...go ahead Fuji, I'll be right behind you…" she replied heavily, as she turned and wiped the sweat dripping down her face on the shoulder of her shirt.

He frowned slightly and looked to Sakura. "Where do you think we should do it…?"

She bit the inside of her cheek as she contemplated his question quickly. "…How about the Medaistinum…?

He nodded in comprehension. "Like a hemothorax? That's some good thinking Haruno. Ayoki, chest tube please."

The older medic went quickly to work, and within a minute another thick ribbon of blackened gooey blood spattered on the floor, earning itself a couple of gags as the fetid smell surged through the room.

"OK Haruno, your turn…."Fujimoto sighed deeply as he stepped back to catch his breath and wipe down his sweat covered face with a nearby towel.

She pressed her hands firmly Kakashi's abdomen, a rouge drop of sweat falling from her eyelash and landing on his pale skin as she did so. She closed her eyes and concentrated on guiding the tiny life robbing enemy of infection up toward the incision Fujimoto had made. She scooted further up his body until she guided the infection out and on to the floor below. _'Got it…'_

She slumped forward for a second; wiping the smearing of dark blood she got on her hands on her shirt. Her work wasn't done yet. She picked herself up off the silver-haired Jounin and moved to put her feet on the ground, the second her feet the floor so did the wave of fatigue, her right leg buckled and she went down on one knee in the fat, wet puddle of Kakashi's blood. She caught herself on the rails of the bed to gain her balance and stop herself from falling all the way down. _'..oo tired..'_

"Sakura!" it seemed like everyone in the room shouted her name in unison.

"I'm ok, just slipped…" she lied as she pulled herself up. Exerting that much chakra control at such a microscopic level for two hours was like fighting a taijustu battle with rock-lee for a day straight, sure she could do it, but that didn't mean she wouldn't get her ass kicked in the process.

"Someone help me with these other injuries…You.." she motioned to the man with glasses who appeared to have recovered. "You did a good job earlier; can you begin healing the lacerations now?"

"Ichisa…" he pointed to himself as an introduction. "And yes, Haruno-san, Thank you.." He walked to the other side of the bed and began working on the copy-ninja's arm again, this time focusing on healing the multiple lacerations.

"Ayoki, help me with…"She exhaled deeply trying to think of what to work on first. "anything…everything...please."

Ayoki nodded and moved across from Sakura to being assisting her.

Mei walked around and reached for Kakashi's mask, obviously intent to do something of use, but Sakura's mind went blank as to what it could be at the moment. She snatched the girls hand away from his face with a harsh stare. "No…don't.."

"I was just going to check-"she wrinkled her face up in confusion.

"Don't; just leave the mask alone..." It seemed disrespectful to remove his mask in view of so many people, while he was in such a vulnerable state. She wouldn't allow it.

It took another hour to finish healing, or at least begin healing the rest of his injuries. Afterward he was moved to a different room, and the waiting began.

* * *

Sakura exited the shower that was in Kakashi's small hospital room, it was nearing three in the morning, he had been unconscious since he arrived over thirty-six hours ago, but that was no surprise given all he had been through.

She had refused to leave his side. Only just now showering after Hinata had begged her too, because she still had dried blood all down the front of her pants. She used the supply of toiletries Naruto had bought for her the other day, which he again brought to the hospital that evening after he finished reporting to Tsunade.

She frowned and pulled on a set of ugly yellowish/brownish borrowed scrubs one of the other medics gave her.

'_He's here…and he's alive..'_ The thought made her chest ache as she ran the towel over her wet hair again, and pushed the door open to stare out in to the room, her heart fluttering as she laid eyes on her unconscious silver Jounin. _'When did he become mine..?'_ But she didn't try to deny it anymore, trying to deny it would be like trying to deny the sky. She longed to be close to him. He made her laugh, he made her happy, and he was her team-mate but also so much more.

She turned her head from the mask-man and a smile played on her face as she watched sleepy Naruto drag Hinata closer to him as they slept together on the tiny uncomfortable half-couch/half-bed someone had moved in to the room.

Shikamaru slept awkwardly in the square cut out of the bay window, his head falling forward on to his chest, making no use of the pillow that was propped behind his at all. His hair was falling slightly from his usual pony-tail and she had the indecent urge to rip the tie from his head so she could see the rest of it.

Shikamaru's hair was almost as sought after as Kakashi's face._ '…that would wake everyone up...' _She decided against the sneak attack on the shadow-users elusive hair.

The medic turned a circle and laid her eyes on the shabby looking chair in the corner and walked over to grab it. She picked it up and carried to over to the side of the bed setting it down lightly.

Not lightly enough.

Naruto stirred and blinked in the faint light of the hospital room; he turned his eyes toward a guilty looking Sakura who was frozen next to a chair by their team-leaders bed.

"Sorry." She mouthed silently and motioned to the chair.

The blonde nodded and squinted around the room looking for a clock. Why was there no clock in this room? He looked back to Sakura and tapped his wrist, the global sign for 'what time is it?'

She held up three fingers and motioned to the darkness outside the window where Shikamaru slept.

Three in the morning.

He pointed his finger toward Kakashi lying in the bed and raised his eye-brows in hope.

She shook her head no. He hadn't regained consciousness yet.

Naruto frowned and slumped unhappily in his seat as Sakura quietly sat down in the chair beside Kakashi, lowering the rails on the bed as she, for probably the millionth time that day, ran her chakra filled hands over his arm and body, checking and healing him.

The pink-haired Kunoichi let her hands ghost quietly over her team-leaders arm, healing and repairing the damage Norio's kunai had done. _'We're going to have matching scars…' _A small smiled pulled at her lips. It wasn't funny, it was horrible. But she was tired and grateful the man that had endured the hardships with her was alive, and in front of her.

She glanced over at Naruto who had drifted back to sleep his head on his arm and Hinata pulled tightly to his chest. A twinge of jealousy coursed through her as she watched them sleep peacefully side by side. _'Why is it ok for them…but...'_ She glanced back to Kakashi, her hand sliding down his arm, her fingers wrapping around his. She knew why it wasn't ok. She couldn't even pretend like she didn't.

'_..because we could endanger the team if he favors me…because he's was my Sensei when I was a Genin…because we're team-seven and everyone watches everything we do…because I'm the Hokage's apprentice and I have a reputation to keep up...because he's the copy-ninja everyone looks too...'_

She tucked her chair in closer to the bed and laid her head on the mattress, her fingers still entwined with his as she drifted off to sleep. Her thoughts roaming over the fact that, no matter what the reasons where for her not to feel this, she did and they could figure the rest out later.

* * *

Naruto's eyes snapped open again a few hours later and he glanced around the now brighter room, wondering what woke him. He met the white-eyed gaze of his Hyuuga a few inches from his face and jumped slightly. Very un-ninja like.

"Naruto…we need to go update Tsunade, it's seven."She whispered quietly, so she didn't wake the other sleeping Shinobi in the room.

He grumbled lowly about the sun not even being up all the way up yet and nodded, and planted a soft kiss on her forehead. He stood and stretched his angry back as held his hand out to the Hinata and pulled her up after him.

He took the few steps over toward Sakura, shaking his head with a rueful smile as he spotted her hand wrapped in their team-leaders. _'Idiot..she fell asleep healing him…'_

He laid a gentle hand on her shoulder and leaned down as she began to open her eyes.

"We are going to update Tsunade…." He whispered quietly to her, receiving a barely conscious nod in reply.

He turned back to Hinata and the couple left the room, the door clicking closed behind them.

* * *

Sakura stayed in the quiet place between dreaming and waking after her two comrades left the room, her hand warm under the hand of the Kakashi's own. She flexed her fingers tightly. _'No I didn't…did I?"_ She must have. She began drifting back to sleep. Then she did it again. _'No I didn't.' _She cracked one eye open and stared at the man lying in the bed. He was still asleep, breathing evenly and peacefully_. 'Still asleep…'_ She closed her eye again.

Her fingers moved.

This time it was definitely him. She sat up and looked toward his face, her hand absently tightening around his. A few seconds later his dark eye opened slowly and her heart nearly burst from her chest. She was elated and terrified at the same time.

"Kakashi..?" She whispered her voice barely audible in the small room.

"Sakura…?" He whispered back, his voice was raspy and full of questions.

They stared at each other quietly. Both immersing themselves in the vision of the person across from them, they thought they would never see again.

The copy-ninja was tired, sore, achy, chaffed, throbbing and stiff, his body was a list of complaints too long to read, but it was a great deal better then how he felt in the desert. He squeezed the small dainty hand that was wrapped in his; the reality of her being there with him reassured his thoughts and all he truly felt was immense relief. _'She's here and she's ok…'_

He couldn't form the words he was feeling as he looked at his medic sitting beside him, tears brimming in her eyes_. 'He had missed her so much, he had been so worried. He was so sorry for the fight they had, so sorry for what she had to go through.' _He reached the hand she had wrapped in her own up to her face, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear quietly. His thumb gently brushing away a tear that washed down her cheek.

Sakura couldn't stop herself, she didn't know how. Unexpected tears quickly formed behind her eyes and spilled down her smiling face silently as she leaned into his warm hand, reaching her own up to press against the one he had on her face. _'She was so happy he was here, so worried he wouldn't make it, so full of guilt at the idea of him dying out there alone.'_

* * *

Shikamaru watched the silent exchange unfold through his lidded eyes, an extreme feeling of awkwardness washing over him as he did so. He felt this was something he shouldn't be seeing, like stumbling in on someone's during their most private moments. _'This is weird…what do I do? Is this normal?.. Tch… what a pain.'_

Stupid Naruto's loud popping back woke him, and then his not quiet enough whisper-fest with Hinata and Sakura kept him awake. He was almost there, almost back to sleep when Sakura's voice timidly called Kakashi's name, and made him lift his lids in their direction, and now they were having a moment. Or were they?

'_This is weird. Are they always like this?'_ He knew team-seven was joined at the hip, they had been through so much, but, this seemed almost intimate. Sakura and Kakashi we're close everyone knew that, they always spent time together in Konoha. Rumors of course came and went about the two, but everyone knew she was still in love with Sasuke. She couldn't even bring herself to see him in his prison cell she was so heart-broken over it.

'_She did go to see him though…she didn't seem full of romance …she looked...uncomfortable and a little angry.'_ He thought back to the day in the Uchiha's cell when Sakura interrupted them during their Shogi game, right before they all fled in fear of the tension that filled the area. But what did he know_? _Women were so confusing all the time_. _

' _She didn't look like she was sick with love, maybe just sick…wait what am I thinking, this is Sakura and Kakashi…they're just friends. They just had a screwed up mission and both survived…of course they are happy to see each-other. I've been spending too much time with Ino and all her gossip._' He rolled his eyes inwardly at himself.

* * *

Sakura stood up quickly as Shikamaru began waking. _'Why did I stand up?'_ she frowned at herself and looked at Kakashi who was still staring at her, a small smile playing the corner of his eye. She narrowed her eyes at him and sat back down.

"Yo…Shikamara…good morning." The silver-haired man called out in a soft grating tone toward the man in the window. Trying to distract him from the standing-up sitting-down pink-haired kunoichi, who didn't seem to know what to do with herself.

"Kakashi." The shadow-user stepped lightly from his sleeping place, wincing as he stretched his cramped legs. "How do you feel?"

The copy-ninja gave an eye-crinkled smile. "I'm ok…" he lied. _'If ok means I feel like I just got sucked up a straw.'_

"You didn't look ok when we brought you here…" Shikamaru frowned at drainage tub that was still in his wrist, and then looked to Sakura.

The medic rolled her eyes at the nonchalant façade Kakashi tried to play. "You had septicemia from the infection in your arm, broken ribs, your kidney was ruptured—"

The masked-man reached forward and ruffled her hair weakly, interrupting her tirade. "I feel much better now." His voice was still just a degree above a scratchy whisper.

She gave him a flat stare. "You should have smelled what came out of you…"

"Sakura… don't be rude." He chided softly.

She couldn't help the inappropriate fluttering in her stomach the sound of his voice saying her name so softly invoked_. 'He's said your name thousands of times before. Don't be such a little girl.'_ She mentally berated herself.

Shikamaru smiled and shook his head, glad the waiting was over and the copy-ninja was back with them. He poured a cup of water and handed it to the bed-ridden man, who nodded appreciatively and took a sip through his mask. "Kakashi, now that your both here…can you tell your part of what happened in Tani?"

A chill fell on the warm room as Kakashi shot a glance at Sakura, his lone eye tracing the pale scars she now had running down her arm. His thoughts traveling back to those long moments in the room where he watched her get ripped apart, heard her blood dripping, the mixed sounds of their labored breathing filling the room. The same room where Ryota shoved his hand in between her legs, and told her he would do so much worse to her and that he would make Kakashi watch. _'How much has she told them?'_

The medic saw her own hesitation to talk about the mission in Tani, reflected in her team-mates eye. "I told them everything…" she bit her lip as she spoke. "…About the mission in Tani..."

'_About the mission in Tani…the mission…not about the things that had happened between them.'_ The copy-ninja read through her code easily enough. "Ok…lets…" He shifted uncomfortably in the bed. Then he realized it wasn't the bed making him so uncomfortable, it was because the bed that was in the hospital. He pulled the sheets of off his feet, grimacing as he swung them over the side.

"Kakashi!" Sakura cried in horror she watched him start moving around.

"Hey whoa…whoa." Shikamaru called holding his hands out in front of him, as if that could slow the masked-man down.

"I'm not a horse Shikamaru…"he ground out lowly as he tried to push himself up to stand, Sakura's hands gently pressing him back toward the bed.

"No, but you are an Idiot." She declared roughly. For a second, a split second she thought he might behave rationally this time; after all they had been through together. She thought wrong. "Kakashi, lay back down, Gods you've only been here for… not even two days yet… you were almost dead when they brought you back."

"Seems like enough time. Come on Sakura. You can be my personal medic…I wouldn't have anyone else do It." he laid his hand on her arm that was pressed softly in to his shoulder, a smile crinkling his eye.

The Kunoichi felt a blush threatening to creep up her neck and she tried to hide it under a disdainful glare and a head shake. "Kakashi, no…you still have a chest tub sticking out of you!" she gestured wildly to the large tube protruding from his side.

"Yeah, Kakashi, just lie back down and relax. Don't be a pain." Shikamaru pleaded.

The copy-ninja frowned at the tube sticking out of him, actually now that he looked; he had several tubes sticking out of him and different clothes on. He sighed and gave Sakura an exasperated glance. "You cut my favorite shirt off didn't you?"

He plucked at the strange purple gown thingy he was wearing, pulled open on the side to revel the yellow tube hanging out of his chest. Then he looked down to the light blue scrub pants he had definitely not been wearing before. _'Who changed my clothes?..that's so…crossing the line.._'

And that's why he hated hospitals. People sticking you with stuff, doing stuff to you when you were asleep, never really understanding what it was they were doing to you. It was like a Shinobi's worst nightmare.

"Yes we cut off your stupid black shirt! You were dying!" she exclaimed

Shikamaru leaned back against the wall and accepted the fact that Kakashi wasn't going to go peacefully back to bed.

"Well since you ruined my favorite shirt…take out the tube." He gave her an accusing stare.

"no.."

"I'll do it myself Sakura.."

"Don't."

"I will."

"You better not."

"What are you going to do? Hit me? I almost died a few days ago…"

"…Do you think you deserve it?…"A spark of anger slid through her as she recalled when she had hit him that night in Tani and the things he said to make her do it.

He looked at her, registered her anger, wondered where it came from, and then remembered when she had hit him, and how, yes he had deserved it then. _'…obviously me almost dying, isn't going to make her forget that...very smooth Hatake.' _

"I don't deserve it right now.." he muttered quietly.

She folded her arms across her chest, and refused to help him.

The silver-haired man shrugged and reached up to grab at the tape that held the tube in his chest, hearing a vicious snarl from his brave little medic as he did so. A small hand slapped his hand away lightly.

"I swear Kakashi..."She hissed lowly, leaning over in front of him to inspect the drain in his chest. She didn't know why she let him get away with this crap; if he were Naruto she just would have knocked him unconscious already.

"It's ok, I do too sometimes…." he joked amiably, his voice slowly returning to its normal pitch the more he spoke.

She muffled a quiet laugh at his dumb joke. "Idiot." She pushed a charka filled hand against his chest as she began inspecting the site of his incision.

The silver-haired Jounin dropped his gaze to stare down at the woman bent over in front of him, her hands pressed up against his bare chest, the soothing sensation of her chakra sending soft tingles through his body. He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes leaning his hands back on the bed as she worked. "You have your rain-storm shampoo again…I like it."

She looked up at her team-leader, her stomach clenching tightly as the look of relaxed pleasure he had. "You always laugh at it."

"I was joking. I like to irritate you." He mumbled quietly as felt her fingers press toward the incision, healing it from the inside so she could remove the drain.

Shikamaru shifted awkwardly bumping the bedside table as he did so. It was happening again. The strangeness was back in the room.

'_Oh Shit..Shikamaru…'_ Kakashi pulled himself out of the cathartic moment he was having with Sakura's shampoo and hands. _'Be less weird Hatake...'_ He glanced back toward the shadow-user, trying to be less weird. "Once we get out of here, I want to debrief everyone, and I need some time to recreate the book we found." He pointed to his closed sharingan eye.

"Ok Naruto and Hinata went to go update Tsunade on your condition. They should be back in a little bit."

A squelching noise made both men wrinkle their noses as Sakura pulled the drain from his chest and finished healing it, then turned her attention to the one in his wrist. After healing that she removed his IV and stood back. "Ok. You're going to be weak Kakashi. You have literally almost no chakra built up at all right now. And your bones and organs still need some time to recover, so please don't push yourself."

The copy-ninja nodded and slowly stood. "Thank you Sakura…" He looked her over in her ugly dirty yellow scrubs and only wanted to pull her to him, to wrap his arms around her tightly and whisper his thanks in to her neck while he kissed her softly. His chest tighten at the mere thought of his lips on hers. _'I can hug her, right? She saved my life. I've hugged her before.' _ This was going to drive him crazy, constantly second guessing his every move around her, because of who might be watching.

Sakura watch her jounin as he cautiously stood, ready to grab him if he needed help. His words of thanks brought a large smile to her face. "I'm your medic.."

"I know." He gave her a weary smile before plucking at the gown again. "um…I need a shirt and some shoes…"

Shikamaru yawned lazily and trudge across the room toward the door. "I got it….the faster we get out of here the better." He just wanted to get somewhere and go over the mission, if he had to steal someone's shoes, so be it. He was a Konoha Shinobi; being an amazing thief was a benefit of the job.

* * *

As the door clicked closed a heart-beat of time seemed to hover between the two shinobi that stared at each other, as the both realized they were now alone.

"Sakura…" Kakashi called her name lowly.

That one word was all she needed and she was wrapping her arms around him a second later. Her sentences were broken up with emotions she felt, tears rushing back to her eyes as she spoke. "Kakashi, I thought you died in River country. I'm so sorry I left you. I shouldn't have left. I thought you were going to die right in front of me when they brought you here. I was so scar—"

He put one arm around her back, his other hand smoothing the back of her hair as she pressed her face to his chest. "It's ok, Sakura. We made it. We're ok…don't be sorry. I told you to go, I'm glad you made it here."

"But those guys they killed Karu..and then..what they did to Akino. What they did to us…they killed Sai…and we didn't-" Her voice was becoming more frantic as she spoke. All the emotions and feelings of guilt that had been weighing her down, the things she couldn't explain to her other comrades that hadn't been there with her, began spilling out in tears.

"Shh shh shh…Sakura, we'll figure it ok…we just need some time." He pulled her closer. His heart felt heavy under the burden of his own thoughts about what had gone on in Tani; he understood perfectly what she was feeling. Guilt and regret were coupled with anger and the need for answers.

The kunoichi took a deep breath as she collected herself, another small worry nagging in the back of her head that she felt foolish to ask, given the situation they found themselves in. _'We have more important things to worry about.'_ but she couldn't stop herself from muttering the question. "And what about…us?

The copy-ninja could hardly hear her as she mumbled in to his chest, and when he deciphered what she said, it took him aback slightly. _'What is she asking? What..what.?'_ He couldn't even think. He hesitated before reaching down and tilted her chin up to him, staring in to her eyes with a questioning and worried gaze. "..is there an us, Sakura?"

She opened her mouth to form words but quickly stepped back from him, wiping the tears away from her face and leaving him reaching toward her in confusion.

Then he heard it and he braced for impact.

* * *

Naruto pushed the door open, smiling brightly at Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei, you're up!" he cried out with joy.

Hinata tugged on his arm to calm him down and failed.

The blonde Hokage-in-training crossed the room in three large steps and embraced his team-leader tightly. "I'm so happy your ok sensei, we were all so worried."

"yoo Naruto, good to see you too.." He grunted under the force of the hug, returning it limply.

"Naruto-kun..."Hinata called out in alarm.

"Naruto, Stop! He's still hurt!" Sakura screamed in frustration.

Shikamaru strolled in, eyeing the theatrics of the entire squad together again with wry amusement. They were all idiots, but they were well meaning idiots, himself included. "Naruto, calm down man, let him breath."

Naruto stepped back with a sheepish smile. "Sorry kakashi-sensei."

"It's good to see you feeling better Kakashi-san" Hinata smiled politely.

" It's ok Naruto…and It's good to be feeling better Hinata…" The copy-ninja smiled, reaching a hand out to pat his enthusiastic blonde subordinate on the head.

"Sakura-chan was kicking ass to save you Kakashi-sensei! She jumped on the bed on top of you and was ordering everyone around." Naruto grinned proudly and turned his eyes on the blushing pink-haired medic. "She was sooo cool!"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow toward his blushing medic. "You jumped on me..?"

She nodded slightly. "It was the best way… to access your system." She cleared her throat and tried to seem professional, but she felt very awkward at the moment her words came out. _'Really…access your system? Why did that sound so weird..?'_

'_Access my system? What's wrong with her? That sounds like a line from a porn I watched…'_ He stared at Sakura for a beat and decided to let that one slide, not knowing how to properly counter it with everyone standing around to hear him.

"Here Kakashi…"Shikamaru held out a plain white shirt and a pair of used looking shoes_. 'I'm going to have to go shopping…'_ He looked toward his medic in the disturbing yellow scrubs. _'her too…'_

The copy-ninja quickly pulled off his purple gown thing and dropped it on the bed.

Sakura averted her eyes at the sight of her team-leader masked but shirtless, she had seen it and even felt it before, but she definitely didn't want to get caught staring. She instead chose to look at her three companions.

Hinata's face flushed hotly as Kakashi pulled the gown off, her eyes slamming to his lithe toned body and sticking there. She mentally traced the muscular lines of his stomach and then to the large scar that ran down his hip in to the waist of his pants, her cheeks burning as she did so. _'I've never seen Kakashi-san without a shirt and vest on…he is very attractive...why he is single?..I wonder what he looks like without his mask?'_ she thought demurely to herself as her eyes devoured his shirtless body.

"Really…Hinata, are you practicing your Byakugan…?" Naruto whispered harshly with irritation as he cast a side long glance at his red-faced girlfriend who seemed to be lost in thought.

The Hyuuga's gaze shifted quickly to that of the blue-eyed man beside her and she puffed her red-cheeks out and exhaled deeply. "ahh I ahh…I..umm." She gave up all pretenses and shrugged looking down toward her feet in shame.

Sakura eyes almost popped out of her head and she smashed a hand over her open mouth as she watched Hinata oogle Kakashi and Naruto's reaction to catching her doing it. _'Don't laugh.. don't laugh.. don't laugh...'_ Well she didn't laugh; she made a strange choking snort and spun around to stare at the wall.

Hinata's shame only grew more pronounced at her friends snorting.

Kakashi pulled the shirt on, taking, what Naruto felt was much too long of a time just to figure out how to put a stupid t-shirt on.

The copy-ninja looked around the room as he pulled the shirt over his head, oblivious to what was going on. He frowned as he took in the four Shinobi in the room with him.

Hinata was red-faced. _'not too unusual for her.' _ Naruto seemed to be glaring at him. _'or maybe he's just hungry..'_ Sakura was snorting at the wall. _'Strange but so is she. _' Shikamaru was staring at them all while shaking head._ 'That's completely normal.' _He decided not to ask and just sat down and pulled the shoes on the shoes quietly.

When he was dressed all the Konoha Shinobi all made their way slowly out of the hospital. Shikamaru lead the way out of the building and in to the street, Hinata behind him, with a suspicious Naruto staring at the back of her head the whole time. Kakashi and Sakura walked side by side, behind the others. The copy-ninja setting a languid pace that Sakura mimicked happily, glad that he was taking it slow.

They were close enough to touch, but neither of them dared.

* * *

The dark skinned man winced harshly as his medic pressed in to his injured back with chakra.

"It looks much better today." Jun mumbled softly.

"Yeah it feels better, except when you stick your fingers in it." Norio replied sarcastically as he shrugged his shirt on.

"Well, we could have just left you out there to die." She deadpanned giving him a flat stare.

Norio smiled at the red-haired woman in front of him and reached a hand out to touch the large scar that was around her neck. "Did you get that because you're so friendly…?"

She slapped his hand away with a look of irritation. "I wouldn't be joking so much if I were you Norio. They want to speak with you…" She raised her eye brows and nodded toward the door.

His shoulders fell at the thought and he buttoned up his shirt. "Well, it couldn't be helped. We didn't have enough people or the right tools."

"Hey, I know, but you know how it looks to them…"Jun added softly

Norio nodded and stood walking through the door, down the hallway and in to the contact room. He nodded to the tanned skinned young man with blue hair that was standing over a scroll. "Nobu, is it ready yet?"

"Yeah, just one more thing.." Nobu reached back for the swarthy man's hand and cut him sharply across the palm, blood bubbling up from the wound immediately. "Put your hand here and the seal will be complete. It will last for a few weeks just like the last one." He explained.

Norio laid his bloodied palm down on the scroll. The parchment sucked the liquid up greedily and flashed before returning to normal. As soon as it returned to normal he reached out for the pen and began writing on it.

'_Norio here.'_ He wrote quickly.

'_You're late.'_ The words flashed swiftly across the paper almost as soon as he was done.

'_Sorry Jun was finishing healing my back.'_

'_You let them get away; they are both in Suna now. We practically gift wrapped them for your team.'_

'_We didn't have enough people.'_

'_There were three of you, with two more on the way..and there were only two of them, you had the advantage of surprise, you knew their abilities, you had them drugged…Tell me how you didn't have enough people? '_

Norio frowned at the words harshly. The way it appeared on the paper did make it seem very ridiculous that the two Konoha shinobi got away. _'You only gave us the four chakra reducers. I put two on the copy-ninja, the Kunoichi only had one, and I had to put the other on the Genjutsu user from Tani. We didn't realize she could overcome the seal.'_

'_You didn't have a guard posted on them Norio.'_

'_I did, but then we had contact with the team in Wind, Ryota needed to be there.'_

'_Your excuses fall on deaf ears…how did two injured, drugged, tortured Shinobi make it all the way to Suna?!'_

'_Hatake, his ninken, there some technique we didn't know about. We couldn't keep track of him. We caught up to him a few times, but, he broke Ryota's arm, caught Jun in a genjustsu and then hit me with a Chidori in the back. By the time Jun healed me; he was already deep in Wind country.'_

'_The two other captives?'_

'_Both dead.'_

Norio stared at the scroll for a long while waiting for a reply.

Finally an answer came, and it wasn't one he looked forward to seeing.

'_Did you get any more information from them?'_

He hesitated, looking for a way to make it seem better then it was. _'The last time you contacted us was when you said you had found out the Hokage was going to be meeting with the Tani and Suna teams that night at sunset, right after that the team from wind contacted us..that's when they-._

His sentence was cut off as more writing appeared below it._' So you got nothing?'_

'_Yes…nothing.'_

'_Did they find the records?'_

'_I don't think so; they only got to offices, as far as we know. Not to the houses were the records are.'_

'_As far as you know? How very reassuring Norio. I hope we didn't make a mistake putting you in charge of this team.'_

'_You didn't, we will make up for it_.'

'_Yes you will.'_

'_Do you want us to follow them to Suna?'_

'_No, we will wait and see what happens. We may have foolishly raised some suspicions, on your behalf. So we need to lay low for a while.'_

'_Ok.'_

'_They will not forget this Norio; I suggest you move your team to a new location in River-country. I will contact you again in three days at dawn with the next step.'_

'_Understood.'_ He pulled back from the paper; preparing to end the contact seal when more words scrolled across the paper.

'_Norio, do not make it a habit of failing us.'_ And the jutsu was broken from the other side with a bright flash.

The usually smiling man clenched his fist tightly and flung the table he had been standing over against the wall in frustration.

Nobu pursed his lips at the outburst from his captain. "We have plenty of time Norio, and they found nothing. Don't worry; two ninja can't stop what we are doing."

* * *

**A/N **

**_omg look at me being freddy-foreshadow! lol_**

**_Here is your promised monday update. God I must love you guys. I would like you all to know, that I did this with the first hang-over I've had in years. I put the blame firmly on to RoxanneN, who convinced me to watch the 3rd shippuden movie, which somehow led to me drinking 1 too many colorado bull-dogs and waking up feeling disgusting. -_- everyone narrow your eyes at her. LOL j/k_**

**_Same street different lane::: If your looking for an interesting story, out of the Naruto-verse. Yes. I have been there its a nice place. I implore you to check on RoxanneN's Ragnarok Online story 'way of the fist'. "Whats ragnarok online you ask?" Honestly I don't know, lol. But the story is told in such a way that I didn't have a problem following it at all, context clues and such._**

**_Ayoki is the name of a japanese-chin I groom at work. I told her I would put her name in the story the other day. ;P (dont pretend like you guys dont talk to animals too..)_**

**_Thank you for reading._**

**_Ninken Ears_**


	16. I know

_**I know**_

* * *

The band of newly reunited leaf-ninja entered the meeting room that resided in the building Gaara housed them in every time they were in Suna. The room was small and unadorned, a large flat table in the center surrounded by chairs. A few bookshelves with various books and supplies scatter along the walls.

Shikamaru placed the food they had just picked up, in the center of the table, and it was quickly divvied out to everyone.

Kakashi sat gingerly down in one of the chairs, the bending motion causing him to wince slightly. "uhh ok everyone; let's go over what we all know.'

Sakura sat down beside her silver-haired Jounin on instinct, the three other members of their party sitting across from them. _'I need to keep an eye him.'_ She was still very concerned about his health; it was preposterous that he was already out of the hospital and walking around.

But keeping Kakashi in a hospital was just as easy and productive, as keeping a fish on a leash, while trying to walk down the road. All he did was flop around. Act like you we're killing him. Disgust a few people. Make everyone else wonder why exactly you had him there in the first place. Make you seriously speculate as to why you just didn't gut him right there, for everyone to watch in horrified amazement. Yes, it was definitely better just to let him out and keep an eye on him.

As the meeting began, Naruto took the lead on the topic of their failure to procure the scroll Tsunade sent them for, or getting any helpful information from the clan leaders about the jutsu it held. Then he spoke of their wasted efforts in trying to obtain information on anything related to the kekkai-genkai users from team-sevens failed mission at the campsite, or any rouge-ninja or odd activity in Wind-country at all. They had almost nothing to show for all the time they had been in the Suna and the irritation was evident on all of their faces.

The copy-ninja listened to Naruto as he spoke in a frustrated tone about the troubles they faced. He smiled sadly at the young blonde man that spoke so thoroughly about the topic of their mission. Every day he grew closer and closer to the man that would one day be Hokage. _'Minato, you would so be proud of him.'_

Sakura sat quietly next to Kakashi as she absorbed all the information the Suna-team divulged. She found herself constantly glancing over at him, watching for the signs of fatigue she knew would begin. _'He's nowhere near rested enough..._'

When Naruto and his team could think of nothing else to add they turned toward the two Shinobi that had been in River. She sighed deeply and organized her thoughts to begin the re-telling of what had happened since they arrived in Tani. A familiar weight settling on her shoulders as she prepared to explain how they had failed once again.

A faint pressure on her knee made her glance over at Kakashi, who was giving her an eye-crinkled smile. "Sakura, I'll do it." He gave her knee another soft squeeze with his hand before he pulled it back and turned to his patiently waiting audience across the table.

The copy-ninja began going over everything that happened in Tani. He started from the beginning going over where they stayed, then the scouting of the bars, when Ryota first sent them to Kobiyashi, meeting with Karu and Akino, the merchants, the offices, the Rain Diamyo's group that was going to pass through River, their own plans to go to Swift River with Kobiyashi's help to intercept and question the Daimyo's party.

The process just to get through all the Suna-team's failures and half-way through the River-teams explanation had taken over three hours. Everyone had questions, which would lead to other questions. Those questions would lead to a lengthy explanation, which would lead to other more intricate questions. No detail was too small, and that took time.

The pink-haired Kunoichi frowned slightly over at the masked-man beside her. He was taking longer and longer to answer the questions. He kept rubbing at his forehead, where a light sheen of sweat was beginning to show, and breathing deeply_. 'He's getting tired; we need to take a break. He needs to get some rest.'_

She caught Naruto's eye with a pointed gaze and nodded her head minutely toward the man at her side, while making a small motion with her hands like she was breaking a pencil in half. He nodded back to her in understanding.

"Ok, we're all tired; we've all have a rough few days. You guys just want to look over the information we've already gotten…?" Naruto stood up from the table. "We can start again tomorrow morning."

Everyone nodded in agreement to the decision and began to stand up as well.

"Yeah, we've got a lot of information. I need to think about it." Shikamaru sighed lazily at the idea as he forced himself to stand.

Kakashi pushed himself up from the table slowly, and looked over toward the woman at his side, his visible eye narrowing slightly. He had seen what she did. Although honestly, he really was relieved to be getting out of the suffocating, windowless room, he hadn't eaten yet and he just wanted to lie down and sleep.

She met his suspicious gaze evenly and gave him a brief smile.

He did his best to pull his eye from her smile and turn back to the other people in the room. "Ahh just one more thing before we go. I think they have a team in Wind-country, and probably someone in Suna too. They knew when we we're going to make contact with you guys, the night after the club. They knew too much and we didn't tell them anything…and Akino and Kobiyashi didn't know."

All eyes in the room grew wide, looked around at each other, and then back to the masked man that had made the disturbing announcement. Then the questions came from every direction

Sakura nodded as the haze in her brain cleared from those particular moments in the small room where she had heard that information_. 'They knew, they knew…..and they said were going to contact their 'windy-team.' _She shook her head not believing she could have over looked such obvious information until now. _'…I was in the middle of getting bled out, and almost raped, then running and worrying, and crying and saving Kakashi..still it's no excuse..'_

Kakashi held up his hand to ward off the questions. "Just, think about that. Think about everyone you've talk to here. Anyone that you could have that shared that kind of information with, make a list. We can follow it up in the morning but, be careful…."

With that the group exited the room. Shikamaru and Hinata quietly discussing what sort of information they had exchanged with the Clan leaders and Elders they had been in delegations with over the last two weeks. Naruto frowning to himself as he silently trailed behind the two, lost deep in his own turbulent thoughts about the information he had just heard.

The copy-ninja grabbed the food and followed Sakura slowly down the hallway toward the familiar rooms the Kazekage always set aside for the leaf-ninja when they were in the village. Naruto pulled a key from his pocket and stuck it in a door on his way to his room. "Kakashi-sensei, this one is yours" he knocked softly on the door in question, before quietly entering his own across the hall.

Shikamaru nodded Hinata away from her own door toward his room, wanting to continue discussing who they had made contact with over the last two weeks. The two disappeared a few seconds later behind the tactician's door with a click.

* * *

An uncomfortable loaded tension filled the hallway. They were alone again.

Sakura shifted awkwardly behind the copy-ninja, grimacing to herself. _I need to check him over. I need to check his body…no not body..yes his body...I should just take him back to the hospital. No he wouldn't do that. '_

The copy-ninja stood silently staring at his hand on the key in his door. Listening to the roaring silence that was coming from the woman behind him, as she stood there not saying a word. _'What is she doing? Talk to her Hatake, say something, anything…'_ He turned around to drop his gaze on her. "Sakura, where is your room?" He mentally rebuked himself for saying something stupid. _'ugh..don't say that…now you sound like an ass..'_

She shrugged in confusion. _'What does he want to know that for..?' _She pointed to his door_. _"This is you." She pointed to the door beside his. "Hinata" Then to the door beside that. "Shikamaru." Then her finger drifted across the hallway. "Me." Then to the door across from Hinata's "Naruto." Then to the door directly across from his. "..um..Empty?" _'Why did I just give him a tour of the hallway?'_

He followed her finger as she named off everyone's rooms, a little confused as to why she was doing it. "Ok…do you need me to walk you to your door?" He looked at the room across the hall she had labeled as her own, only a few steps away.

"What?" a confused look jumped on her features. "No…."

"So… do you want to come inside?" His heart beat began increasing, nervous at the thought of her in his room alone. _'What are you thinking Hatake; your teammates are just a few feet away. Get your head on straight.'_

"uhh..Yes?" She replied as if it should be obvious.

"all..right…." His voice cracked oddly and he cleared his throat, disappointed in himself._ '..Nice Hatake..did you just hit puberty?'_ He unlocked the door and walked over to put the food on the table in the corner, her footsteps following close behind him and the door sliding shut afterwards.

"You can just sit down and eat while I do this." She motioned to the chair beside the table.

"What?" Now it was definitely getting weird.

"It's easier if you sit down; I mean you can lie down too…" She gestured to the bed behind her. "..But you can just sit here and eat, either way..."

'_..What is she talking about?'_ The copy-ninja was staring down at the medic in her ugly scrubs uncertainty; his thoughts had turned against him and begun jumping down a tainted path, as various medically inspired sections of Icha-Icha flooded his thoughts. _'..Don't be so perverted.'_ He sat down slowly, attempting to not look as perverted as he felt. He brushed a tiny piece of lint off his blue scrub pants and hoped that helped.

"Sakura, what are we talking about here?" He gave voice to his thoughts as he watched carefully for her answer.

"I need to check you over Kakashi, I let you out of the hospital but you still need help healing. So sit down and eat." She creased her brow and stared up at him, to see if he would comply_. 'Why is he being so weird? Does he not want to see me? Was I making a mistake? We kissed, but was it because we thought we we're going to die? Just a reaction to stress..?'_ Her mind turned over all the facts as she began doubting herself.

He winced inwardly, feeling extremely dense for the things he had been thinking. _'..yeah..great job seeing underneath the underneath genius..'_ He tried to focus on the food in front of him; it had been days since he had eaten. The silence in the room stretched endlessly as he pulled his mask down and began toying with the meal. Maybe if he ate, that would ease the tension between them. He wasn't sure how that would work, but he was willing to give it a shot at this point.

The medic crouched in front of her team-leader, pulling chakra to her hands and laying them lightly on his shoulder and running her hands down toward his wrist. She pushed the healing power in to his injured arm_. 'I missed him so much…and now he's here and I don't know what to say...'_ She eased some of the inflammation that had developed around the healing lacerations, her thoughts traveling back to that time in the small room where she watched him get slit open repeatedly by Norio's weapon. "Kakashi…do you think they're going to come after us again?"

He nodded quietly to her question and sat back from his food to look at her. She looked so lost. He wanted to reassure her and tell her it would be fine, and no repercussions would follow them, but she was smart. She already knew the answer. "Yes, I think so…We know their names, we know their abilities, and we got away."

"Yea..I know…I don't even know why I asked.." she kept her eyes down as she ran her fingers along the side of his chest, trying not to think about how she had pulled him close to her during the kiss they shared as they we're fleeing Tani. "I was scared I wouldn't ever see you again…" the words fell timidly from her mouth as she continued to run her chakra over his mending ribs.

A long stretch of silence followed her words before he answered.

"I never stopped thinking about you…" He reached down and rubbed his thumb over the scars that started on her wrist, her breath freezing in her lungs at the contact. Her hands rested gently on his chest, her chakra all but forgotten about as she concentrated only on the feeling of his fingers as they skimmed farther up her arm.

"What are we doing..?" she asked, sorrow and confusion saturating her words.

"I don't know…" He answered with a small head shake, sounding just baffled and distressed as she did. "…We can stop, just tell me to stop…" he pleaded while his fingers danced across her collar bone and up her neck.

"I can't…I don't want to…" She didn't want him to stop; she wanted him to touch her like this. It felt right. She felt safe. She felt happy. How could that be bad?

"Me either…" He muttered quietly as he moved his hand behind her head and pulled her to him, her face just a few inches from his. "..I mis—"

She leaned forward and cut off his words before he could finish his sentence, pushing her hands on his thighs to raise herself from her crouching position in front of him, her lips rushing to meet his. A spark of heat flared to life inside her as she felt his hands travel around her waist, pulling her forward and guiding her on to his lap. She leaned in to him, wrapping one arm around his neck, her fingers moving up to slide gently though the back of his hair.

As soon she lowered herself on his lap, he couldn't get her close enough to him. His hands slid under her ugly yellow scrubs and up the smooth skin of her back, forcing her to arch farther in to him, her hips pressing against him as she did so. A small groan escaped his mouth as she rubbed against his already hardening length, and he couldn't stop himself from pressing down on her hips to strengthen the pleasure the sensation brought him.

The pink-haired woman let out a soft moan as he pushed her down on her waist, forcing her against him, his callused thumbs rubbing gently on her hips. She deepened the kiss, desperately pulling him closer to her mouth as urgency took control of her desires.

His lips only slowed in resistance to her desperation. His tongue moved lazily over hers, dragging at her mouth softly and easily, urging her to slow down with him, to take her time. His kiss was like a lazy stroll through the woods, slow, easy and full of comfort. She never wanted to go home from that walk, ever.

A shiver traveled up her back as he let go of her waist and pushed her hair out-of-the-way, trailing his lips delicately down her neck toward her shoulder. She could feel the rough scrape of the stubble on his jaw against her skin as he moved his mouth along her neck. "Sakura." She heard him murmur, as his teeth scraped at the hollow of her throat. "I missed you…"

She leaned her head back down to his, placing both hands on the side of his face and stared at him, her heart racing, her breathing rapid with the anxiety and passion she was experiencing. "I missed you too…this is ..**us** ..right?" she whispered breathlessly, referring to the question he asked her earlier that day.

"If you want it to be, I don't know how it's going to end though." He replied as he took her hand off his face, and placed a small kiss in her palm.

"I know…" She rested her forehead on his, his hands gently moving around her back, as her own arms wrapped around his neck.

"We shouldn't do this."He whispered, kissing her again lightly on the lips. They shouldn't do it but she was his. He needed her. He couldn't stop even if he tried, because he had tried, and it didn't work.

"I know…"she reciprocated his gentle peck with her own. "…but..." She gave a defeated shrug and lowered her head and laid it on his shoulder her heart rate coming down slowly.

"I know…" The copy-ninja nodded in agreement and let out another deep sigh as he thought about the situation they had managed to get themselves in. He had never been so terrified by something so good.

They sat like that in silence for a long time, listening to each other's slow breathing. Both thinking over the how's and the why's and the repercussions of what they were doing together.

Kakashi sat quietly, gently smoothing the back of her hair, while relishing in the feel of her warm breath on his skin.

Sakura was content just to feel his arms holding her against him, silently toying with the mask that hung around his neck, or running her fingers lightly across the line of his exposed jaw.

* * *

Sakura stirred lightly. Her arm felt weird, she moved to get up, and her leg was not moving, there was someone pressed up against her. She was stuck, trapped, it was happening again_. 'not again..not again..'_ She pushed herself backwards, earning herself a small grunt of surprise from the other person.

The other person who was in fact Kakashi, she realized as she was halfway down to her trip on the floor. She landed roughly on her back and laid there in stunned surprise. Her heart now racing as it tried to overcome the adrenaline that was coursing through her system.

The un-masked copy-ninja stared down at her, blinking and rubbing his face. "…are you ok..?" he muttered groggily.

"Yeah." She frowned. "I forgot where I was…"

"Hnnn…." He stood up and stretched. His back and ribs protesting the long nap in the uncomfortable chair with a Kunoichi on his lap. He took a step forward and reached his hand down to help her off the floor. He knew where she had been, he could see the brief flash of panic on her eyes as she tried to get away from him, but he didn't comment. He had been there too many times himself.

She waved his hand away as she took a deep calming breath. "I'm ok here…what time is it..?" She glanced toward the window that was covered with curtains.

"Four…" Kakashi looked at the clock on the wall, before walking over to open the curtains. An unpleasant amount of light flooded in through the window causing both ninja to look away. "..in the afternoon…" He looked down at the woman on the floor again.

Sakura sighed deeply. "I need to go back to my room…" She made no move to get up.

"If you want to…." He lowered himself to the edge bed and rested his elbows on his knees staring at her.

"No, not really… but I need to." She gave another frustrated sigh and pushed herself up to stand. "I'll check you over again before I go."

The silver Jounin gave her a sluggish lop-sided smile. "… Access my system again?"

"Ugh…I knew you wouldn't forget that…" She scoffed rolling her eyes as she moved in front of him, drawing her chakra to her finger tips and tracing it over his injuries with a practiced hand. "Everything is still healing well…get some more rest."

"I will…" He closed his eyes lazily, still incredibly fatigued. He planned on taking a long, long nap. Not in a chair this time. "What are you going to do?"

She shrugged. "I still need to finish the mission debriefing for Tsunade."

"Oh..okay.."He replied. His eyes still closed. "Come here..."

"I'm right here…" She stared down at him.

"No…" He opened his dark eye to look at her, and held his hand out. "Come..here.."

She stepped closer to him, apprehensively sliding in between his legs as he reached his outstretched hand up to pull her down for a soft kiss. Her lips parted quickly as they came in contact with his and she could feel the satisfied smile that formed on his mouth when she acquiesced so swiftly to him.

A blush shot up to neck to her cheeks and an intense fluttering gripped her stomach_. 'That's going to make me blush…but not what we did earlier?' S_he rolled her eyes at herself inwardly as she leaned away from him.

"I'll see you later." She muttered shakily to her team-leader as he put his feet up on the bed and lay back quietly his eyes already closed, lopsided smile glued to his face.

"..be careful Sakura.." she heard him call softly as she walked toward the door.

"I will."

* * *

She opened his door quietly and turned to close it behind her with as little noise as possible. Sneaky. She spun around to go back to her room and froze. _'… Oops…'_

"Hey Sakura, we we're just looking for you." Hinata waved to her.

She stared at her three comrades that stood outside her door staring back at her. _'..they know…'_

"Hey guys." her voice gave a very unimpressive squeak that forced her to try again with different words and a level tone. "What's up?"

"Me and Shikamaru are going to the training grounds to spar…clear our heads a little." Naruto explained as he walked over to her. "Were you checking on Kakashi-sensei again?" he asked glancing to the door behind her.

"Yes. I was checking on him…again. I checked on him earlier, and then I just did it again. He's sleeping. He needs to rest, because he is still healing." She jumped haphazardly all over her blonde team-mates interpretation of what she was doing outside their team-leaders room. _'I sound so stupid. Stop talking so much.'_

Shikamaru's analytical eyes stared at the pink-haired Kunoichi, she seemed flustered and she was still wearing the disturbing yellow scrubs from the hospital. He looked to the door behind her. _'…has she been in there this whole time..? Why would she lie about it?'_

"Sakura, I'm going to the store to get some supplies. Do you want to come?" Hinata offered, and cast a glance at her friend's appearance.

"Yeah Hinata, that would be great." Sakura nodded quickly, trying to get away from the door behind her before it could tell her comrades what she had been doing on the other side of it with the copy-ninja.

* * *

After a few hours of sparing the two Konoha men relaxed back on some rocks in the training ground, letting the warm heat of the day seep in to their backs, as the cool wind from the north blew over their faces.

"Hey….."Shikamaru called quietly to the man a few feet from him, trying to figure out if he really needed to talk about this, and how much tact he would require to broach the topic.

"Yea..?" Naruto panted a few feet from him, eyes closed.

"You guys are all pretty close huh?" the tactician questioned vaguely

"…uh?"

"Team seven."

"Yea man..you know that. Just like you, Ino and Choji. Why?" Naruto's interest was piqued and he sat up on his elbow and gazed toward the lounging Nara.

"I don't know…" Shikamaru shrugged. "It's just…Sakura and Kakashi…they…"

"They what?"

Shikamaru grimaced to himself. _'too forward, back off..'_ "This has to be difficult on them. Everything that's going on right now…and then that whole thing with Sasuke last year. They just seem to spend a lot of time together.

Naruto frowned over toward the shadow-user. "Yea, I know... Neither one of them was really happy when we brought Sasuke back. It changed for them, we all wanted him back at first, and then we got him back and…" He shrugged at a loss of words to explain how their hunt for Sasuke had turned in to a burden of guilt, shame and disappointment for his two other team-members. "Sakura always spent a lot of time with me, Sai and Kakashi-sensei. After Sasuke came back, even more with Kakashi-sensei…it's like they bonded or something…they we're both pretty upset. I think he reminds them of bad memories, but they never talk to me about it."

"So do you think Sakura still loves Sasuke?"

"Nah, I don't know if she ever really did. I mean she dated a couple of douches even before we found him, and afterward…she just moved on."

"Is she seeing anyone right now?"

"What the hell are you trying to ask Shikamaru?" Naruto growled growing impatient with his friend's covert questioning.

"I don't know she jus ...I don't know, never mind Naruto." The shadow-user scoffed at himself for being so stupid_. '..She was happy to see her team-leader, who didn't die getting tortured in the desert…She's close to him…is that any different then I was with Asuma?'_

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the lazy man laying on the rock next to him. "Shikamaru, are you interested in Sakura-chan?"

"What?! No…." he sputtered sitting up to look at his comrade in confusion. _'how does his thought process even work?'_

"Look, its cool. A lot of guys get jealous of the way she hangs around us. I mean you're a good guy, Shikamaru, so if you like her it's fine. I don't know if she likes you, I know she doesn't hate you so—"

"Naruto..man…I am not interested in Sakura.." Shikamaru shook his head in disbelief at the way the conversation had gone_. 'what a pain…'_

Naruto scoffed and lay back down, putting his hands behind his head, and not quite believing his friend. "She would be too much for your lazy ass anyways…." he added with a grin.

"Whatever…"Shikamaru muttered laying back, his posture mimicking Naruto's.

* * *

Hinata shook her head as she tried to expel the blush from her face. "I can't believe we went in there."

Sakura laughed loudly at her friend and enjoyed the feeling of happiness the action brought to her; it seemed like such a long time since she had just spent time with a friend doing regular things. "I know…me either, but we left everything in River."

Hinata nodded quietly and stepped forward to pick up the food they had just ordered for everyone as it was brought to the counter. She turned with the newly acquired meals in tow and stared up at the sky. "We should go get Naruto and Shikamaru, it's getting late."

"Yeah, and those idiots will be out their all night. Shikamaru day-dreaming and Naruto..doing whatever it is Naruto does.."

The two Kunoichi started in the direction of the Suna training grounds. After a few minutes of quiet the Hyuuga pursed her lips and asked the question she had been trying to ask for the last few hours and the last few days. It was a simple question, but a loaded one. "Sakura, are you ok?"

The pink-haired woman inhaled slowly as she digested the question. There was far more weight behind it then the polite inquiry it seemed. "…I'll be alright." She was by no means ok, but maybe one day.

"I can't even imagine having to watch Kiba or Shino or **anyone **go through what you and Kakashi-sensei did together."

"Yeah…" she trailed off, eyes locked on the dusty street under her feet.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you Sakura." Hinata apologized quickly, sensing the change in her companion's mood.

"It's ok, It ….everything got so…we messed up, and people died because of it." She shook her head as the trickling madness the mission in Tani had been, started shifting back to the forefront of her mind. She didn't want it there, she just wanted to enjoy a few hours with her friends.

"I know that it's hard. But it's not your fault Sakura, you and Kakashi-sensei couldn't have known. You both did you best."

"Hnn…not really." She glanced over at her dark-haired friend wondering how much she could tell her. "Can I tell you something Hinata?"

"Anything…" Hinata looked away from the darkening path in front of them toward her friend and met her gaze. "Is something wrong Sakura?"

"Me and Kakashi got in a huge argument in the Anbu outpost after the last mission…the one with Sai. Actually, I just screamed at him told him to get out. We didn't even speak until the night before we all left."

Hinata winced at the thought of the two not speaking after such a devastating loss, they were so close. "What did you scream at him about?"

Sakura shook her head, not wanting to drag up too many old wounds at once. "It doesn't matter, I was wrong…I shouldn't have."

The Hyuuga nodded, understanding Sakura's reluctance to talk about the situation. The two continued slowly, feet tossing up little dust clouds in the sand as they came to the outskirts of the village and turned toward the training area.

"…we started arguing again in Tani." Sakura spoke again, apparently deciding to continue with her troubles. "…Not a lot really… just one time. It was more like, everything was very strained between us. We shouldn't have been on that mission together Hinata. We could hardly communicate."

"It happens Sakura. We all spend so much time together that we can't always get along. Look and Ino and Shikamaru, she's always mad at him. It's not **because** you two got in to an argument that the mission went wrong. You got in an argument **and** the mission went wrong. Don't blame yourself."

Sakura nodded, not wanting to try to deepen her relationship with her team-leader in Hinata's eyes, to attempt to explain her feelings over the circumstances in Tani. "I guess so."

"And you two are ok now?"

The medic bit her lip, thinking about Kakashi's lips on hers, the way he pulled her in to his lap. The way his mouth trailed down her neck, his voice whispering how he missed her, his hands sliding up her back. "Yeah, we're ok." She spoke to her feet as they came to the edge of the training grounds.

"Is that them?" Hinata pointed over toward two strange looking lumps on top of the rocks in the middle of the sandy arena.

"Yep that's our idiots."

* * *

A high-pitched whistle came screaming across the training grounds startling both lounging leaf-ninja.

Sakura and Hinata stood on the other side of the training grounds, arms full of bags.

"Come on guys! It's getting late." Sakura shouted loudly toward them in the growing darkness.

Naruto grinned happily and jumped to his feet, Shikamaru grumbling along beside him.

"Look.." he nudge the Nara in his ribs. "Our women came to get us…that's so cute."

Shikamaru exhaled a sigh of desperation and looked skyward for help. "I told you—"

"-I'm not interested in Sakura…" Naruto finished for him with a knowing smile before jetting off toward the two Kunoichi.

'_Look what your big stupid mouth got you in to now.' _he mused in irritation as he slowly sauntered across the field toward his teammates.

"Sakura-chan..did you spend **all** the money?!" Naruto gaped as he stared at the bags.

"I had to get new gear and some for Kakashi too." She held out the bags helplessly.

Naruto sighed deeply and nodded. It couldn't be helped. Still, it was a lot of bags.

The four shinobi began making the trek back toward Suna and their rooms as the darkness spread over them.

"The wind festival starts tomorrow night." Hinata added thoughtfully when they we're almost back to the building, lightly touching one of the thousands of little toy pin-wheels that seemed to be all over Suna.

"Good time to give an enemy an excuse to be in town." Sakura gave a jaded frown, looking around at all the decorations that littered the streets and buildings. "…wind festival.." She ground out with aggravation.

After her flight through the desert with the wind and the sand tearing at her, she could think of much better reasons to have a festival. _'A bath festival, a nap festival, a massage festival, a soft pillow festival …'_

Suna's wind festival lasted a week and begun every fall right after the wind started blowing in from the north. It was probably the only time ever that Suna descended in to the depravity of ostentatious decorations. The hidden village was covered with wind-socks, pin-wheels, flags, kites and little paper birds, dragons or anything else that could be made to float around annoyingly. The people of Suna reeked with the anticipation of their long-awaited celebration.

"Wind-festival…" Sakura muttered again as she followed Naruto in to the building and toward their rooms. Hinata quickly excused herself from her teammates and ducked in to her own room with her food, claiming she needed to prepare for a meeting tomorrow.

Shikamaru and Naruto follow the smell of food in to Sakura's room.

"Is this your mission report?" Shikamaru questioned as he picked up the scroll on the desk

"Yeah, you want to look over it?" She asked, even though he was already beginning to sit at the desk. One hand on the scroll the other on his food.

"Yeah, can I add our update to the bottom?"

"Sure." She gave the back of his head a smile and turned to Naruto who peeking in her box of food. "Naruto, that's mine."

"Can I have a bite? It looks good."

"After you take this to Kakashi, you can have whatever you want. Just leave some for me." She held out a few bags along with a carton of food.

The blond man slouched his shoulders in despair. "Ughh..I don't want to wake him up..."

"Just go and don't be a jerk. He's still hurt."

"Why don't you just go take it to him?"

She had thought about it, but decided against it. _'What if I end up in there again for hours?'_ The possibility seemed highly likely. She wanted to feel his arms around her again, hear his voice in her ear. She shoved the bags in to Naruto's arms "…because I need to take a shower."

"You always take showers…"

It was true, she did always take showers, but they helped her think and she had a lot to think about right now. She could feel it building up in side of her, the stress, the worry and the fear.

'_What am I doing with Kakashi? What are we going to do about the mission? They are going to come for us, Norio, Ryota…What's going to happen if someone finds out about what Kakashi and I are doing? Are we endangering the mission? How are we going to keep this a secret. Tani. What happened in Tani.…Akino..Karu…all their blood. We killed them…I let Sai die. He died and I should have been able to save him.'_

"Then you should be use to it." She turned on her heel without another word and fled to the shower leaving Naruto looking baffled in her wake.

Sakura stood under the spray for a long time, letting the hot water clear her head and wash away her emotions. Whether it worked or not was up for debate, but after a while she did feel calmer and her feeling stayed in check without overwhelming her. She slunk out of the shower and got dressed before going to work on finalizing the mission report with Shikamaru.

* * *

"Kakashi-sensei!...Kakashi-sensei…open the door."

The copy-ninja lifted a single eyelid toward the noise. _'naruto..'_ He yanked his mask up. Rolled over and shoved his face in the mattress. Pulled the pillow over his head, and thoroughly ignored the pleas that came from the other side of the door.

The unmistakable sound of the lock tumbling echoed in his ears and he buried down deeper in the blankets.

"Kakashi-sensei…" came a loud whisper, from beside his bed.

"Naruto…go away…that's breaking and entering. It's illegal."

"Not for a shinobi…"

"Yes it is…that's why people hire us to break and enter for them…"

A sizeable weight was dropped on his bed, and the delicious smell of food drifted toward him. "Get up Sakura said to bring this to you."

Kakashi scoffed loudly in to the mattress under him and rolled over to peer up toward the bemused looking face of his blonde subordinate.

"She got you some clothes and food when she was out with Hinata. You should take a shower. You look gross…" Naruto narrowed his eyes and shook his head in shame as he looked at the disgraceful image of Konoha's famous Kakashi No Sharingan.

"..I'm tired…where's Sakura?" the masked-man yawned as he spoke.

"You're always tired, she's with Shikamaru….taking a shower…."he explained impatiently

The statement worked its way around his brain for a second. _'Shower… Shikamaru.' _is all he could put together. "What..?" he croaked and struggled to lift his eyelid, which had deviously slid shut again.

Naruto rolled his eyes at his team-leader. This was the same man who copied a thousand jutsu's. That faced Madara, Obito and Pein. That took on the Akatsuki. That was the captain of the third division during the fourth war. That conquered the Uchiha Kekkei-genkai. That almost became Hokage. How could he do all that, but still take four hours to wake up? "Shikamaru is with her…she's taking a shower."

'_nope..that still didn't make sense…' _Kakashi rubbed his face slowly, propping his body up on an elbow."Why is she taking a shower with Shikamaru?" He asked more clearly, not believing he heard it right.

"Sensei..wake up!" Naruto cried out in an exasperated tone. "She's not taking a shower with Shikamaru, although he might like that..." he smiled crudely. "She's taking a shower…and Shikamaru is in her room, helping her organize her report to Tsunade."

"oh…" He fell back on to his bed softly.

Naruto frowned at his lazy superior. "How do you feel?"

"..I hate you..go away.."

"Sensei, don't be a jerk." He scolded his team-leader like Sakura had done to him earlier. "Take a shower you smell weird and you have dirt all over you. No wonder you don't have a girlfriend."

"hnn.." was the copy-ninja's only reply, as he fought of the urge to smile smugly_. 'Sakura didn't care about the dirt and weird smell…' _

"Come on old man, get up and come hang out with us for a while." Naruto called as he yanked the door open with a smile.

A pillow bounced of the door as it clicked shut. '_Old man…'_ Kakashi scoffed again and sat up and looked at the clock_. 'It's only eight-thirty...I could have slept all night long…'_

He turned back to stare at the bags beside him ruefully. He pulled out the clothes Sakura had gotten him, grinning at the several black shirts. _'..Feeling guilty for ruining my shirt?'_ He had to admit, that she probably didn't, she just knew what he wore.

He pulled out some black pants and looked toward a smaller bag that dropped out of the bundle. He picked up the bag and couldn't help but laugh loudly to himself as he removed its contents. A brand new copy of Icha-Icha tactics sat shining happily in his hand. He shook his head and flopped back on the bed_. 'I'll read for a few minutes and then get up and shower.'_

* * *

"No..No no..I** saw** that… you **can't** do that!" Sakura pointed accusingly at Naruto's piece on the Shogi board. The blonde ninja was trying to cheat his way to a win. After they had finished going over the mission reports, they had wandered over to Shikamaru's room after he mentioned the Shogi board he kept in a scroll, in case of emergencies. Hinata strolled in after hearing all the noise Naruto was making as the Shadow-user handed him his ass during the first game.

"She's right Naruto." Shikamaru frowned and shoved the other man on the back of his head. "Stop trying to cheat."

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata scolded from the small couch beside the window, where she was reading over a scroll.

"If I don't win Hinata, will you still come to my room tonight?" Naruto pouted, with a sparkle in his eye.

Everyone except Naruto gasped.

"Naruto! Gods! You're just like Jiraiya!" Sakura screamed as she and Shikamaru both reached across the board to hit him, Hinata's face turning bright red.

The blonde man laughed loudly and rolled off the bed to avoid being hit by his comrades. "Hinata, help me."

She shook her head at her uncouth boyfriend. "I can't help you…Naruto. I'm sorry." She glanced toward her two other friends that we're perched on Shikamaru's bed looking at her. "Don't hit him in the face."

"Hina-!" Was all the escaped through Naruto's mouth before a shadow flung itself around him and slammed him to the ground knocking the air from his lungs roughly.

Sakura pounced off the bed, on to Naruto. "It's over Naruto…don't let him up Shikamaru…" she whispered harshly as she placed her hand over Naruto's gasping mouth as he tried to catch his breath. A steely gaze settled in her jade green eyes.

"I won't." The strategist replied smoothly as he leaned over the bed to glare at his captive.

"You-do-not-talk-to-a-lady-like-that!" She said punctuating each word with a sharp punch to his ribs.

"..well well…what are we all doing?" Kakashi's voice called out from the doorway. He had on his new black pants and sleeveless shirt. The new mask was pulled up over his face and the new black cloth wrapped around his head to cover his sharingan. His hair was still slightly damp from the shower he had just come from. He looked refreshed, relaxed and rested.

Sakura eyes shot up to look at him as she heard his voice. A guilty look crossed her face as a flame of desire flared in her chest. _' He looks so…No..Don't look at him like that.'_ She scolded herself, her hand halfway raised to punch Naruto again. "..Playing Shogi?" She averted her eyes back to her prisoner for the time being.

"hnnn..."He cast his eye toward the abandoned Shogi board in the middle of the bed while tucking his new book in his pocket. His eye slipped back to the medic sitting on Naruto. She wasn't in the ugly scrubs anymore and he much preferred this look, although he would take her any way she came.

She was in a pair of the black training shorts she usually wore around in Konoha, and a red tank top. Much to his chagrin and slight envy she had what looked like Shikamaru's blue hoodie halfway zipped up around her, so he couldn't get the full picture."I thought you we're writing your mission report..?"

She creased her brow in confusion at the masked man who stared down at her and she lowered her hand to rest on Naruto's chest. "Yeah over an hour ago…"

"Sakura, I'm letting him up." Shikamaru pushed himself back up on to the bed, releasing the jutsu that was holding his comrade down.

She nodded and sat back on the ground.

Naruto leapt to his feet, scowling at his two attackers smug faces before turning back to Kakashi. "You should've been here to help me; I went to get you two hours ago!"

"What did you do Naruto?" The silver-haired man shifted his gaze, which had somehow found its way to Sakura again, back over to his blonde team-mate.

"He was trying to cheat..." Shikamaru called impatiently as he set the board up again; cutting Naruto off before he could try to make up an excuse.

"And then…"Sakura added softly looking over at Hinata; which in turn caused everyone else to look at her.

"..Then he was rude…" Hinata tactfully added from behind her scroll.

"Don't be a jerk Naruto." Kakashi rebuked him with the same words the blonde had used earlier, not even bothering to glance in his direction as he stared down at the Kunoichi on the floor. Kakashi smiled down at her warmly and held out his hand to help her up. "Sakura..."

Sakura tried to keep her face schooled and normal as she reached up to take his out stretched hand. Her heart was thrumming wildly in her chest, full of the secrets it was keeping. _'Everyone is going to know…'_ She wrapped her hand in his and let him pull her to her feet; she released her grip from his quickly as she could with a small smile of thanks.

Naruto scowled at the copy-ninjas back before going over to plop himself beside Hinata on the tiny couch, his long legs stretched out ungainly in front of him.

Sakura sat back on the bed facing the Shogi board in the middle, curling one leg under. Half her brain trying to focus on **not** looking at the silver-haired man standing so close behind her, the other half focusing **entirely** on what the silver-man behind her was doing. _' Don't stand so close to me..everyone will know..'_

"You want to play a game Kakashi?"The shadow-user offered as he looked up toward the copy-ninja, who was standing behind Sakura.

"Not this round Shikamaru, you two play…I'll just watch." He grabbed one of the chairs away from the table, dragging it up to the bed and spinning it, and sitting down right beside Sakura_. 'I'll just watch her… and smell her… and hear her… and want to touch her… and not touch her.'_

The hours flew by as they all bantered and played Shogi. Shikamaru vs. Sakura. Sakura vs Hinata. Kakashi vs Naruto.

As the clock on the wall moved toward three in the morning, Kakashi and Shikamaru had come to a stand-off on the Shogi board.

Naruto was on the floor in front of the small couch propped up on his elbow chatting with Hinata about the meeting with the clan elders she had tomorrow, his hand absently rubbing at her ankle.

Sakura had fallen asleep somewhere during the Copy-ninja vs. The Kyuubi round. Her body was lounging up near the top of the bed by the pillows. Her feet had worked their way underneath Kakashi's folded leg and he longed to reach over and run his hands up her calves to her thighs_._ To feel her under him as he dropped his mouth lower on her body, lower then it had been today. All the way down her neck, to her breasts. _'nope..stop it...not here..'_ He moved his eye back to the Shogi board before something uncomfortable for everyone in the room happened in his pants._ ' Shes going to drive me crazy…'_

Shikamaru yawned loudly and stared at the board blinking his sleepiness back before shaking his head and falling over on the bed lazily. "I'm too tired, we can start again tomorrow."

"Yeah, were going too." Naruto groaned as he pushed himself up off the floor. He cast his eyes over the sleeping form of Sakura and smirked. "She never could stay out late. Is she staying in here with you Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. " ..don't be a pain..I'll take her back to her room..."

"I got her…" Kakashi stood up slowly, tugging on her foot. "Sakura..come on, get up."

"Goodnight."Naruto and Hinata both called as they walked from the room hand in hand.

"Sakura, get up" He leaned over and tucked his hand under her arm to pull her up. "Come on let's get you back to your room."

The lethargic medic yawned and let herself get pulled up by her arm in a tired stupor. "Did you win..?" she croaked, as she stood up.

"Nope." He placed a light arm around her shoulders to help her toward the door. "Night Shikamaru…" he said as he ushered her in to the hallway and closed the door behind them.

* * *

Kakashi opened the door across the hall from the Nara's room, scanning it quietly to make sure it was actually Sakura's_._ The smell of her shampoo and the pile of yellow scrubs confirmed it was her room. "Ok goodnight…Sakura" he muttered quietly down to the woman at his side.

Sakura rubbed her eyes and looked in to her room and back up to Kakashi. "..You can come in..." She wanted to talk to him. She wanted him to put his arms around her. She just wanted to be with him for a little while longer.

"Um..I don't know if that's a good idea…"He looked down the hallway toward Naruto and Hinata's rooms, rubbing the back of his neck surreptitiously.

She ignored his apprehensive protests and took his hand pulling him in to the room with her and closed the door behind them.

She dropped his hand at the door and walked over to her bed collapsing on it with a deep sigh. "You think they're looking for us right now, or if they have someone in Suna that they already know we're here?" She asked rubbing her hand over her face again. Her worries were creeping back without the distraction of company. The thoughts of starting to work on the mission in a few hours beating back any of the residual enjoyment she had tried to participate in today.

The silver-haired man locked the door behind him before walking over to sit on the edge of the bed beside his medic. "I don't know. If they have someone in Suna, they already know we are here. The other's that have already been in Suna, haven't had any trouble. So...Maybe the enemies priorities here are different." He hoped.

"I had fun today…I made myself have fun, because with all that's been happening. I missed days like this the most. Where we just hang out and joke around, but it's not real is it? All of us know it's not. People died Kakashi, Sai died. He would have liked being here with us like this..." She shook her head, thinking again back to that day at the campsite on the border of River. "I'm never going to forgive myself for watching him die like that…"

"Sakura, it's not your fault. Sai wouldn't blame you." He pushed himself back up on the bed and leaned over to brush a strand of hair from her face as she stared at the ceiling. "What could you have done differently? It's my fault for leaving you two their alone..none of this would have not been happening if I had make the right choice."

She closed her eyes as his hands moved across her face. "Akino and Karu died because they met us. They we're happy and alive, and a week after they met us...They we're dead."

"Akino and Karu died because the enemy we are after killed them."

"Do you really believe that?" she asked, her voice laced with criticism as she opened her eyes to stare at the man leaning over her.

"I have to…I've lost so many people Sakura. I've had to find a way to deal with it all. It's hard but you have to try to look at what's around you, not what's behind you. Enjoy the little moments you have with the people around you, don't blame yourself for everything." He traced his thumb over her face lightly as he spoke.

"Is that why you stand at the memorial stone every day for hours?" She asked, her words coming out much harsher then she intended, and she instantly regretted them. "I'm sorry…I didn't mean to say that."

He nodded quietly as he watched her struggle with her guilt, a war he had been fighting for years. "It's ok..I said I **try…**I didn't say I was very good at it." He ran his fingers over her hair gently smoothing it down. "You make it easier though…" he gave her a small smile as he spoke.

She smiled back at him wondering how this happened, a year ago he was teammate, and a few months ago he was one of her best friends…and now. "What changed between us Kakashi..?" She asked as she reached to pull his mask down.

He thought quietly for a second about her question, and about the time they shared together, the jokes, and the easy conversations. How he would smile when she smiled. Irritate her because he liked the look on her face. Spar with her because he liked how strong she had grown. He never realized how much it meant to him until after the campsite, when she screamed and refused to speak to him.

"I lost you…"

She chewed on her lip as she took in his words and she knew it was true. The shame she felt for throwing him out of the room and blaming him for what happened on the mission where Sai died. The emptiness she felt at Sai's funeral, made worse because he wasn't with her. The heart wrenching way she wanted to go to him and comfort him during the council meeting where he refused to defend himself. How she wanted to go talk to him every day, but she couldn't work up the courage because she was afraid he might tell her he didn't care. And if he didn't care, she wouldn't be able to live with that.

"I came back…" she smiled sadly, a stray tear falling down her face, physical evidence of her tumultuous thoughts only seconds before.

"I know…"He lowered his mouth slowly, and placed a soft kiss on her expectant lips. His tongue slipped gently over hers as she raised her hand to touch the side of his face.

A strange noise muffled its way through that wall. Sakura rolled away from him and yanked a pillow over her face and screamed in to it. "Oh Gods! **No! **Not again!" She pulled the pillow down slightly and stared at him, her face flushed with horror.

Kakashi stared at the wall in confusion before it became slightly louder and he understood what he was hearing. _'That's a mood killer.'_ He chuckled darkly to himself and flopped beside Sakura. "…I never thought Hinata would…before marriage…"

"Me either." She whispered conspiratorially. "But…" She motioned toward the wall. "I was wrong, I've been wrong every night since I got here."

Kakashi muffled another awkward laugh and pulled the blankets back from the bed and nestled himself in deeply, holding his arm out to Sakura. "Have you said anything to them?"

"Gods no…Hinata would die." She obliged him and slid under the covers and melted in to his side burying her face in his chest, full of shame as their neighbors continued with their debauchery.

Kakashi gave an exasperated sigh feeling extremely uncomfortable. The noise behind the wall becoming a mixture of squeaky bed springs, thumps and groans. He rubbed a hand over his face to hide his embarrassed, lop-sided grin. "How long does this last?"

"I don't even know how they walk around during the day…" Her words were filled with morbid amazement as she broke out in to a fit of awkward laughter.

The copy-ninja shook his head and kissed her on the forehead. "We are sleeping in my room tomorrow…"

* * *

'_Lock the door.'_

Shikamaru frowned at his ceiling after the pink and silver-haired shinobi left his room. _'Lock the door.' _The annoying habit his mom had instilled in him since he was born was like a thorn in his brain. _'Lock the door.'_ He scoffed at his mom. She was probably asleep peacefully back in Konoha. He pulled himself to his feet_. 'Why lock the door? I'm a Jounin shinobi from Konoha…if someone can sneak in to this room without me knowing, I'm already dead.'_

He marched across the room and peeked through the peep-hole out of habit as he reached over to lock the door. _'…is that normal..?' _His hand hovered above the lock. Kakashi and Sakura where across the hallway outside her room, the Kunoichi nodding toward her room, the Jounin peering at their surroundings. _'…just move from the door Shikamaru…stop looking...'_ He couldn't stop; he was nosey just like his mom. He watched uneasily as Sakura pulled the copy-ninja behind her in to the room, and the door shut.

The shadow-user clicked his door locked a second later and walked back to bed numbly; his brain breaking down what he had just witnesses and finding a category to file it in.

_. '..that was weird..but..maybe they had something to talk about, or maybe she was showing him her mission debrief. He seemed like he was interested in it when he first came over.. Or… maybe they are having sex…'_ He shook his head and blew out his cheeks_. 'no, that doesn't seem like them….It's something else…. I know… probably he's just looking over the debrief, and he looked around the hallways because he knew how weird it would seem if someone caught him walking in to her room at three in the morning...and she pulled him in behind her…because he was being ridiculous, they weren't doing anything weird and who would see them anyways, it's three in the morning...Who would see them, besides their obsessive-compulsive, door-locking, nosey team-mate of course…what a pain. '_

He nodded satisfied with his answer. He lay quietly drifting to sleep as he listened for the sound of the door across the hall closing, which would signify Kakashi going back to his own room and prove his hypothesis correct.

* * *

**A/N**

_I almost decided to name this chapter 'beast mode' cause its so freaking big. -_- _

_R&R_

_/\_/\ Ninken Ears._


	17. Everything

_Here I am again warning you about graphic content._

_If you read it, there's no givesies-backsies._

* * *

**Everything**

* * *

The copy-ninja had a cramp in his hand. A cramp in his arm, a cramp in his back, and probably a cramp in his eyes too. It seemed like all that was leading to a cramp in his brain. Which would probably be called a headache, but right now he wanted to call it a cramp, because he felt like shit and he was irritated.

Naruto and Hinata we're on the top of his 'least-favorite-people-in-the-world' list. Also so was he. He was at the top of his own least favorite people list, well he was usually always in the top ten anyways. The couple in the room next to Sakura's had indeed made for an uncomfortable night; which was only three hours long. Then he got up at six, because everyone else would be up at eight and he couldn't be caught in Sakura's room. So he left the warm comfort of her bed and the soft sounds of her breathing on his chest, with a kiss on her head and a promise to see her in a little while. He then walked down to the meeting room and began re-copying the book they found in the merchant's house in Tani.

It was now ten in the morning. Hinata, looking annoyingly happy, had already left for her meeting. She had new promises approved by Tsunade a few days ago, to offer the clan leaders in hopes to persuade them for help with their Jutsu.

Naruto, Shikamaru and Sakura had left together an hour ago to send the Tani mission debrief to the Hokage and get their next orders concerning the mission. Now that Sakura and Kakashi had shown up in Suna, what where they suppose to do now? Did she want them to assist here or return to Konoha? He didn't particularly want to travel back across the desert and swampy countries again just yet, but if Tsunade told him to they would do it.

He sat back from the papers scatter in front of him with a yawn, and raised his hands about his head to stretch. _'It didn't seem this complicated when I copied it.'_ But it was that complicated. The strange symbols mixed and blurred together in some spots. There we're tiny notes added to corners of pages. Other area's scratched out and hardly visible.

The cramp in his brain was growing in power.

He reached for the tall cup of life giving coffee and took a sip through his mask. Suna did have wonderful coffee; probably it had to do with Gaara still never sleeping. Bad coffee was mostly likely punishable by death here.

The door to the small room cracked open and Shikamaru's face popped in. "He's still here." He called to someone behind him.

The shadow-user and his pink-haired medic walked in. She smiled at him and is irritation at the world was cut in half. _'I guess it's not so bad…'_

"Tsunade, said for you two to stay in Suna for the time being, since you have the most intel on what's going on." Shikamaru said as he walked around to look at the giant mess in front of the masked-man.

"How do you feel Kakashi?"Sakura sat across from him, her own cup of coffee steaming in her hand. The few hours they had spent lounging in each other's arms was brief, but it solidified her reasons for wanting to be with him. He was hers and she wanted to spend more time like that with him. Her proximity to Kakashi seemed to have a definite effect on how she felt about the repercussions of their prohibited relationship. The closer she was to him, the farther away the issues seemed to be.

He gave his eye-crinkled smile and set the pen down. He caught her eye as she asked him the mild question. Well shit, now he felt fantastic. How could just laying next to someone make you so happy? "I'm good…how are you?"

She bit her lip to stop her smile from getting out of control, failed and took a sip of coffee instead before answering. "I'm good too." It was ludicrous, she felt like a little girl that just found out her crush liked her back, his eye-crinkled smile and his pointed look had a blush creeping swiftly to her cheeks.

"Is this in a particular order?" Shikamaru interrupted their clandestine conversation, spreading the papers around.

"Shikamaru…not yet." Kakashi frowned gathering the papers back in to the pile he had them in and waved the nosey man away. "Let me finish or I'll get it all mixed up."

Sakura leaned over to look at the jumbled writing, her girly feelings giving way to curiosity. "How far have you gotten?"

Kakashi closed his eye scanning through the images burned in to his brain. "I'd say about a third of the way, It's difficult because of the way it's done, the symbols or letters or numbers..are very…" he motioned to the papers. "..complex.."

"It looks sort of familiar…"Shikamaru squinted at the papers and shook his head. "I don't know…I'll see if I can get some books to look through."

"Where's Naruto?" Kakashi asked noticing the blonde mans absence.

"He's coming, he went to find Gaara and let him know we both will be staying here for a while." Sakura answered.

"Yeah, the village is in going crazy because of tonight. Gaara could be anywhere." Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

Kakashi scoffed, his irritation coming back slightly. "The wind-festival…" He had seen all the decorations in the city yesterday. Exactly what they needed, everyone in Suna drunk, crazy and flying kites as they tried to conduct their search for leads.

"The wind-festival…" Sakura nodded with a wry smile and met Kakashi's eye. Obviously her Jounin felt the same way she did.

"hmm…I'll go now and see if I can get those books...we need something to help figure this out, and Kankuro has a whole library." Shikamaru tapped the papers lightly and looked at Sakura and Kakashi, who we're looking at each other. He frowned; he had fallen asleep before he could hear if the Copy-ninja went back to his room last night. This morning though he was up and working on the papers and Sakura was still in bed. So he was just being paranoid, wasn't he? _'..Suspicion is the precipice of enlightenment….'_ Wasn't that something Kakashi himself told him once? It seemed rude to turn his logic back on him like that.

"Ok Shikamaru, I'll stay here. I need to check Kakashi over before I go scout out that lead." Sakura shifted her gaze to the mute Nara who was staring at her strangely.

"Sure..ok.." The tactician nodded, his eyes watching her carefully. _'I need to stop being such an old lady. Getting suspicious of Haruno Sakura and Hatake Kakashi...dad would kill me.'_ He tapped the table with his finger once again and exhaled. "Be careful when you go out Sakura." He left the room and heard Kakashi's voice asking "What lead are you two talking about?" as the door shut behind him.

* * *

"Karu's lead…" Sakura looked toward the door to make sure it was closed securely as she answered.

"Karu's lead?" The Jounin repeated in confusion. "Did he give us a lead?" He honestly couldn't remember anything like that. He picked up the pen again, and slid his other across the table palm up in invitation. It seemed like too long had passed since he touched her last, and any contact would suffice for now.

"Yeah, he did…" She whispered softly and lifted her hand from her drink to slide her fingers across the table to brush his. The feeling of his hand on hers was oddly comforting, despite its physical limits.

"I don't remember…." Which was weird he usually remembered everything. But he was working on the paper in front of him, scratching out foreign symbols that had been burned in to his brain, so a slight hiccup in memory was tolerable. Plus there was the pleasantly distracting Kunoichi hand resting softly in his own.

"Emiko Sagawa. He said she was an associate of his, right before…." Her mind flashed back to what she would never forget. The sharp exhale of breath that seemed unbearably loud as Ryota's sword punched through Karu's back. The red stain that spread over his shirt as a look of confusion spread over his face. The sucking sound the sword made as it slipped from his back.

"Sakura…" Kakashi was staring at her, his hand gripping her own tightly to pull her back to reality. He remembered now, how could get forget the man's last words. "…I remember. I don't want you going there alone. She was Kobiyashi-san's associate, they know who he was. They could be watching her to see if we try to make contact."

"Yeah I thought about that. Should we even try to make contact? Shikamaru wants too but, with what happened last time, it seems…I don't know...should we involve more innocent civilians?"

Kakashi clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth in thought. She had a point. They needed information yes, but at what cost. Dragging innocent bystanders to aid in the mission that was indisputably dangerous, tugged at his ethics. They had made a grave error concerning Akino and Kobiyashi in Tani, underestimating the enemy and being too conspicuous with their allies.

Two men died because of their miscalculations and that blood was on his and Sakura's hands. It would never wash off. Blood never washed off, it covered you, it drowned you, it stuck to you, and changed you forever. His past was a painting of blood and regrets; he didn't want it getting any larger if he could stop it. "No, you're right. We don't even know what we found in this notebook; it could be anything. Let's figure this out and if it's worth it, then we can reach out to Sagawa."

"Thank you…" Sakura visibly relaxed at his words. Shikamaru had been insistent on following up on the lead from Kobiyashi as soon as she mentioned it. He had a habit of only seeing in black and white when it came to missions. A strange habit for someone so intimate with the world of shadows, but it was how he worked. His flawless ability to see the tactical side of things made him extremely useful in a tight spot, not as useful in situations of moral ambiguity. "We'll have to tell Shikamaru. He's going to throw a fit."

Kakashi shrugged, pulled his hand from the woman across from him and rubbed his fingers over his tired eyes.

"You ok?" Sakura asked.

"Hmm…I'm fine."

"You're always fine…" She shook her head at the expected answer and stood up to walk around the table to him. "Is it your eye?" She stood leaning her hip against the table as she peered down at him. She didn't know why she let it annoy her when he wouldn't just tell her something was bothering him, he never did.

The copy-ninja sat back in his chair and stared back up at her, tossing an appreciative glance over her body, her face was contorted with mild irritation. That was one of his favorite faces. A small smile tugged at him as he tapped the pen in his hand and watched her. "No, not my eye…"

Really he wanted to play a guessing game? She frowned at him. "Kakashi…"

"Ahh..could you call me Hatake-san for this?" He questioned playfully and leaned back in the chair, his legs stretching out in front of him, his foot tapping the outside of her ankle. This could be like icha-icha. This could be great. A self-satisfied chuckle escaped his lips as he saw her eyes widen marginally and her mouth drop open as she uncovered his innuendo.

'_He really is a pervert…'_ It didn't matter. The thought of him so blatantly referring to a kinky role-playing scenario, was un-nerving, but also very interesting. She rolled her eyes, but couldn't stop the blush from spreading over her face.

"Ok Hatake-san, so...it's not your eye. It is something else?" She felt ridiculous.

'_Oh gods she's doing it!'_ Why weren't they in a bedroom? Why wasn't she wearing scrubs? Why wasn't he wearing bandages, in very illicit places for her to remove?

Kakashi faltered, he'd never actually had anyone play along like this. Not that he had a wide variety of women in his past to choose from anyways. He's sexual deviancy consisted of a lot of one-nights stands and only one real relationship, and that probably only lasted as long as it did because he had several lengthy missions tucked in to the entirety of it. So yes, the pervert in him was slightly speechless when his medic rose to the occasion. His heart thumped irregularly and he felt a heat sliding up his face. Why was it so hot in here? Why couldn't he think of anything to say back to her?

"Hatake-san, are you blushing?" The pink-haired woman stepped up between his legs and continued to stare down at him. The image of Konoha's top pervert reduced to a blush was thrilling, and gave her a sense of confidence.

Yes, he was blushing. It was mildly emasculating, but so was the fluttering in his stomach. _'...Don't scew this up Hatake…'_ He reached his hand up to touch lightly at her hip. "It's one of my symptoms; maybe you should look closer Haruno-san." _'Was that a line from a porn...?'_ It probably was, oh well it fit.

"I think I will." She tipped forward and tucked a finger under his mask, and slid it down over his chin. A tingle spread through her as she felt his lips brush against her fingers on the way down. Her own lips met his a second later. His hand on her hip moved up to the back of her neck to pull her in to him, his fingers tangling in her hair. She could taste the coffee on his breath as his tongue met hers. She could feel his hands pulling at her, dragging her closer. The soft easy kiss of the day before was forgotten as his reserve gave way to lust.

He was on his feet; he needed to take control of this. She was his and he wanted her. He pushed her up against the table. Not good enough. He slid his hands around the back of her thighs, immersing himself in the feel of her body pressed to tightly to him, and lifted her up on to the table pushing her legs out of the way to slip between them. The papers under her crinkled softly, the only other noise in the silent room besides their own breathing.

Nope. There was definitely another sound.

"Hey Hinata, come on everyone is probably in the meeting room!" a distorted voice called from outside the room somewhere

Their eyes met and all they could see reflected in the others was panic.

"Naruto!" Sakura whispered in frenzy as the copy-ninja sprang away from her.

"Shit..." Kakashi stared down at the giant tent that was pitched in his pants and looked around the room for an answer. There was not an answer for his erection in the room, beside the medic who was scrambling off the table like it was on fire. She probably wasn't his best option right now.

"Just sit down!" she gestured wildly to the chair he had shoved out of the way.

That made perfect sense. He sat down, reaching over to pull her shirt down that was wrinkled and tucked up around her waist. "Your hair, Sakura…its.."

Her hair was insane. She could feel the tangles in the back of it. She tried to smooth it down, snagging all the snarls in her fingers. Why had he been pulling on her hair so hard? It hadn't bothered her in the moment, but now it was the epitome of inconvenient. "Your mask, Kakashi…**the mask**!" She clenched her jaw; eye's wide as the door popped open.

Kakashi ripped his mask up awkwardly.

Too slow.

"What the fuck!?" Naruto howled.

Sakura's jaw dropped. _'He knows…'_

Kakashi held up his hands to slow the blonde man down as he charged in to the room. Hinata behind him, a startled look on her face as she tried to registered the origin of her boyfriend's anger.

'_How does he know..?'_ The copy-ninja leaned back away from the table, hands still up. He would have stood, but that didn't seem like the best option considering the situation he still had between his legs, though that particular issue was fading quickly in sight of his raging subordinate.

"Stop Naruto, just calm down, it's not what it looks like." He lied; it was exactly what it looked like.

"Naruto please…" Sakura begged as her blue-eyed teammate stuck an accusing finger at them his mouth agape in disbelief. "It just happened, Naruto… Don't be mad!" She lied, It didn't really _just_ happen, it had been happening.

"You showed Sakura your** FACE**? And you've never shown me!? I've been on your team for just as long, that's not fair Kakashi-sensei!"

'_oh thank gods'_ Sakura let out a deep breath, her heart pitter-pattering back down from fight or flight mode. She bent to pick up some of the papers that had fallen on to the ground during their scrambling madness before the duo walked in. It was a desperate attempt to sink in to the floor and out of sight of the other people in the room until she could assure herself that, no she hadn't almost just been caught with her team-leader's tongue down her throat.

Kakashi attempted to form an explanation as to why he just had his mask down in front of Sakura; because that was the reason the blonde was so upset. Not the fact that he had just discovered that his sensei was just a few minutes away from seriously considering taking a dive deep in to his pink-haired teammate, on the table in the middle of the meeting room in Suna._ 'I wonder how mad that would make him…' _the copy-ninja thought briefly. The following image was extremely unsettling, had a familiar orange tint, nine-tails and a very gut wrenching roar.

Yes, it was a really good thing he was just mad about the mask. The hokage-in-waiting had been trying to unmask him for years. It was probably quite a blow to learn his teammate had gotten there first.

Kakashi tried to clarify. "It happened in Tani." _Not a lie_. "My mask got ripped off, it wasn't on purpose." _A lie_. "Since she's already seen, it's not a big deal." _Not a lie._ "She was just checking an injury_." A lie._ "That was it." _A lie._

'_Oh well, two truths and three lies. It could be worse Hatake, way worse. What were you thinking? Ready take your medic right here on the table. You're not a teenager have some control. It's Sakura.'_

Naruto turned his alarmed gaze on Sakura. "You saw it in Tani?! All that time and you never said anything?! We had a deal!

Sakura tried to answer, her mouth was open, and no words would come out. It was true, they had a deal. Whoever saw it first was suppose to inform the other members of the team immediately and then commission a sketch. She didn't actually believe him when they made it. Obviously he was serious. "Naruto, I'm sorry. It didn't seem…." She held her hands out and shrugged.

The blonde had already turned back to his team-leader and pointed at him, a dead-serious look settled on his features. "Show me your face right now…."

Kakashi scoffed. "Show me your face."

Naruto's eyes went wide and he put his hands on his cheeks in bewilderment. "I am showing you my face!"

Kakashi shrugged and took the papers Sakura handed him. "It was your choice."

"That doesn't even make sense…"The blonde man frowned as he looked between his two deceitful team-mates.

Hinata looked between the three people. Sakura looked nervous, her hair was in disarray and her shirt was rumpled up. Kakashi had a pink tint to the part of his face she could see, as he stared down at the papers in front of him studiously ignoring the outraged Naruto. A strange feeling crept over her as she stared between the two people on the other side of the table, but she couldn't place it. Had this happened before? It seemed like she had seen this somewhere._ 'It's just weird she wouldn't say anything about seeing his face. Maybe he told her not too. She did say they got in to a few fights, she probably just didn't want to upset him again.'_ The feeling persisted as Naruto calmed down and they both sat down at the table with the two other leaf-ninja.

Hinata explained the head-way she finally made with the clan leaders with the new proposed offerings from Tsunade. It always came down to prices when dealing with things like this; everything was negotiable for the right promises and agreements. She needed to contact Tsunade with the counter offer. They we're willing to share the jutsu, not the actual scroll, and they wanted a binding contract that stated they wouldn't teach it to anyone else without permission, along of course with other demands. But beggars couldn't be choosers. So they would have to work around this.

Shikamaru strolled in lazily with an armful of dusty books a few hours later and dropped them loudly on the table. "Tchh, what a pain. Kankuro wouldn't stop showing me his puppets and trying to poison me… and Sakura…he wants to see you..." He turned his eyes on the medic.

"For what?" She asked, wrinkling he nose at the thought.

Shikamaru shrugged.

"You remember when he poisoned Shizune-san last winter….?"Hinata offered with a wince. The puppet master wanted to see exactly how good the proclaimed poison expert of Konoha was. He gave her a small wooden miniature of the hokage monument he had carved, that he had politely coated with a new neurotoxin. The effects started within the first ten minutes.

Turns out Shizune was a lot better than he anticipated and she when she finally caught up to him on the training grounds two hours later, the devastation could be heard all around the hidden village. Hinata had been afraid they would end up at war with Suna over of that.

They all grimaced at the memory and turned pitying eyes on Sakura.

"I'll kill him if he poisons me…"she answered their stares defiantly

Kakashi silently agreed that if the painted-face-puppet-freak poisoned his medic, he would kill him too. Right after Sakura did and most likely right before Naruto.

"Hey guys…" Naruto sucked in an awkward breath and exhaled with a pained expression, drawing Sakura's pity-eyed audience to him, looking much less pitying and much more prepared for the worst.

"What did you do?" Kakashi asked, his lone eye narrowing slightly. He knew Naruto, knew him too well. That face was the closest that man got to shame.

The blue-eyed man looked at Sakura and offered a small smile. "Maybe it'll be good news for you at least. You won't have to go find Kankuro to see him."

"That's not good news Naruto." Sakura said.

"Naruto…" Hinata warned him softly. "What is it?"

"Gaara asked if we we're going to be at the opening for the Wind-festival tonight. I kind of told him yes."

Scoffs, sighs, narrowed eyes, disgusted gestures and curses were all sent in a barrage toward Naruto.

"Tch Naruto, why would you do that? We have a lot of work to do."Shikamaru shoved the book in front of him away in frustration.

The blond threw his hands up with a helpless look. "He seemed like he would be really upset if we didn't go."

"Really Naruto? Gaara was going to be sad if we didn't go to his party?" Sakura hissed out in irritation. She didn't think Gaara gave half a damn; this had Naruto written all over it.

"Naruto, you shouldn't have done that without talking to everyone first." Hinata chided him.

"You just want to play with the big kites." Kakashi crossed his arms over his chest and sighed deeply.

"I do not, and it's not that bad. We just go to the opening. Kakashi-sensei, you can have the ninken scouting through the area…if one of the enemy is there, they will let us know. How many other opportunities are we going to have like that? Practically everyone in Suna will be there." It was a good reason, even if he was really looking forward to the big kites. He loved the wind-festival, it was so awesome.

Sakura dropped her head down on the table in front of her with a defeated frown. "ugghh Naruto…." He was making a good argument for his case. It was terrible. She wanted no part of windsocks, giant kites, and Kankuro attempting to poison her for hours.

They all slumped dejectedly, except Naruto, and also Hinata, she was sort of excited about the little paper things that float all around, and the fireworks. She loved fireworks.

"Ok then, we have a few hours until the sun goes down, lets finish up going over our part of the Tani mission, and who you've all shared information with here. Then we can look through some of these books." Kakashi pushed aside the stack of papers that was slowly becoming a replica of the pages of the notebook from Tani; he could work on it later.

The rest of the evening was spent going over mission details, contacts, leads, and blindly shuffling through books trying to find something like what the copy-ninja had been working on.

* * *

The Sannin drummed her fingers on the top of her new desk gently. Yamato had been out on mission and had just arrived back yesterday and was quickly sent to her office to prepare another desk for her. It was irritating that she had to spend a week without a desk; she would try to take better care of this one. She told herself that every time, but a somewhere, somehow, someone would come in to the room, piss her off, and a desk would die. It didn't seem like that that was entirely her fault.

The desk sat happy and shiny, unaware of the hundreds of desks that met their end under the hands of the Hokage. Its doom loomed above it in the gentle finger tips of the blonde woman that tapped out a quick frustrated beat on its top, but the desk was blissfully ignorant of its already pre-determined fate.

She had read, re-read and triple read the mission debrief from Sakura and Kakashi. It was repulsive, it was infuriating, it was depressing. It was exactly what she imagined happened. Then to top it off, Shikamaru added a whole list of failures in Suna. Hinata was in a meeting right now delegating over the scroll that held the jutsu they needed.

She still had a one armed bastard in her prison, a man that knew everything. The seal or genjutsu or whatever was smeared in to his brain, was still eluding her best men. She needed that scroll from Suna; she needed it two weeks ago. She needed to get that giant fucker in the cell to talk. Her fingers paused in the air as Jiraiya's voice and image floated in to her head.

x x x x

_She sat in this same chair, drumming her fingers in the same way as the white-haired author slipped in to her office with a grin and a bottle of Sake._

"_I don't want to talk Jiraiya_, not now."

_Her long time friend sat down anyways and snatched her glasses off the desk, filling them both silently and slipped one over to her. "Good, me neither."_

_She frowned and reached for the glass sipping at it quietly as her thoughts ran over the options in front of her. How could she do this? Be Hokage? Be responsible for everyone in the village. Every time she turned around someone was attacking them, people we're dying, and running away. She was doing a terrible job. She would be known as the worse Hokage Fire-country had ever seen._

_Jiraiya re-filled her glass again and pushed it back toward her, doing the same to his own, the only noise in the room was the slow ticking of the clock on the wall, the sound of liquid being poured, and then the tinkling of glasses as they were dropped empty, back on the desk._

_After an hour of silence Tsunade finally began slowly telling the man in front of her slowly about her woes. In turn he sympathetically told her of his own. He was worried, worried about everything, afraid of the choices he had made and the consequences they would have on the future. All he had to show for his life was a stack of porn-o's and a list of things he shouldn't have done, and a list of things he never got around to doing._

_They wallowed in the swamp of their own, and shared miseries in life. Finding solace in the fact that atleast when they were together, they we're not alone._

"_Jiraiya, how do you do that… manage to get me to tell you all my sad stories?…" She frowned at him as he smiled across from her, his eye twinkling deviously. A look she missed so much._

"_Tsunade, we all want to share our sad stories with people we know have the same stories…misery loves company."_

x x x x

There it was. That was what she needed. _'Thank you Jiraiya, I wish you we're here with me. You would know what to do.' _But he wasn't here anymore. He was gone and she was alone. She would have to do it without him.

"Shizune!" she called loudly, knowing the other woman was in the adjacent room.

The short-haired woman appeared within the minute. "Tsunade-sama?"

"Shizune, get me Sasuke Uchiha."

* * *

Sasuke stood aloof under the gaze of the woman that had sent him to his current life in the cell_. 'No that's not right, I sent myself there.' _He was constantly at war with his resentment. He had slowly, very slowly come to realize the error of his quest for revenge. After his team-mates almost killed him and brought him back to Konoha of course. He wasn't as perfect as he had once thought he was, and he had been blinded by his unbridled anger for so long.

"Sasuke, you have helped us before with information you have, concerning..." She motioned out of the window behind her. "…other shinobi you have come in contact with."

"Yes….Did you find Kakashi and Sakura?"

Tsunade scowled harshly "How do you know about that?"

Sasuke shrugged, not wanting to give away his sources, but his eyes dropped to the chakra depleters on his wrists and Tsunade didn't miss it.

"Neji." Her irritation dropped off to a frown. The Anbu agent had stoically refused her offer of a position after that night in her office. But she had seen where he had been removed from active mission detail, and re-assigned as an up-jumped baby-sitter at the prison. It was a concealed back-hand in the face of the promising Hyuuga, but he hadn't voiced any objections and seemed willing to indomitably deal with the ramifications of his decisions alone.

Sasuke deigned to reply. It was true the Byakugan user had told him briefly, about his lost team-mates when he had questioned him why he was suddenly at the prison. But it was also a few other people. Shizune and Genma namely, they seemed to have some moral obligation to inform him of his team-mates happenings. He felt certain a particular blonde-haired man had plucked a few promises from the couple before he left on the long mission.

"Ugh. Yes damnit. They both made it to Suna and are ok." She waved his next question away before he could voice it. "Sasuke, I didn't bring you here for you to question me. I want to know if I can use you."

The Uchiha's eyes narrowed slightly as he shuffled his feet. "For what?"

"To be company to misery…"

She explained her plan briefly as the Uchiha-heir looked on and listened. He had a few questions that she answered easily enough and he agreed to assist in whatever way he could.

The thought of a mission, even one so bland and unexciting as this one stirred a dormant nostalgia in his chest, yes he would try to help. Help his teammates that were out there struggling for answers. _'Why do I even still call them my teammates?...because they never gave up on me…'_ Well maybe that was true for Naruto. Kakashi and Sakura could hardly look at him.

He wanted to change that, he had no right to want that after all he had put them through. But he wanted their respect again. Every time he was alone in his cell looking at the images Sai had drawn for him he longed for the past he had shared with them, and wished for a different future.

This simple mission from Tsunade might not be much, but it was the best he could do while he atoned for his life of malevolence behind bars. And maybe one day he could look at them and not feel ashamed for all he had done in the face of their loyalty.

* * *

Shikamaru stared around the crowd warily. Then to his teammates that were staring around the crowd warily. No, that wasn't true at all. Naruto was eye-balling a giant kite in the shape of a fox, and Hinata was staring up at the sky expectantly. _'…Where are Kakashi and Sakura?'_ His eyes narrowed to slits as he searched the crowd that had just stood alongside the Kazekage. Gaara had finished giving his speech a few minutes ago at dusk, it was boring and dull, but everyone in Suna cheered as if he had just told them he had discovered the cure for hang-over's. Idiots. They we're all just waiting for it to get dark enough for the fireworks.

He spun around on his heels to look behind him for his missing comrades. _'Really, I'm searching for my own teammates? Because…they are probably out searching for the enemy and the only thing I can think of is why do they always seem to be alone together? They are always alone together because-'_

"Shikamaru!" Naruto was suddenly at his side with a grin and what seemed suspiciously like a giant kite under his arm. "What are you doing?"

"Um…?" He paused and glanced around again. _'Looking for your two team-mates because I seem to be obsessed with them lately, like some sort of hopeful pervert.'_ He decided against that statement and shrugged. "I was trying to find Sakura, Kankuro is over there..." he motioned to the man in question a few feet away.

Naruto frowned and looked around the crowd with him. "Where is she…and Kakashi?"

'_Yes, someone else noticed it too…I'm not being paranoid._ Shikamaru had a bright twinge of self-assurance.

"You sure you just don't want to see her so you can make a shadowy move on her?" Naruto whispered vulgarly in his ear.

Self-assurance gone. Paranoia back.

"No I already told you—"

"I know I know!" Naruto laughed and nudged his friend in the ribs lightly, and then his smile turned in to a frown as a thought crossed his mind and he scoffed. "She probably off looking at his face…I want to see it. She couldn't even describe it very well to me…" He descended in to self-pity.

"What?" Shikamaru was lost.

Naruto shook his head. "When me and Hinata went in to the meeting room this morning, before you got there, Kakashi had his mask down. I only got to see part of his stupid nose. It looked… normal." He seemed disappointed.

Shikamaru tried to stop all the alarms, sirens, flags, warnings and red tape that went up in his mind. "Sakura was there?"

"Yeah, I guess she saw it in Tani, when they were fighting. So he said it didn't seem like a big deal now." Naruto turned and stared harshly at the shadow-user. "I think they did it just to annoy me…"

Aside from noting that Naruto probably had some definite narcissistic tendencies, the Nara stood quietly as he brain chugged away_. 'She saw his face, who else has seen his face? Asuma did, I think..Tsunade? Who else…No-one that I know of… maybe Gai? Wouldn't that be something Sakura would talk about... They've been trying to get that mask off of him for years. And she sees it and doesn't tell anyone? Then they are alone together and he has his mask off? Maybe they were just eating breakfast…'_ He slid his eyes to Naruto. "So maybe they we're just eating breakfast? If she's already seen it… he wouldn't have to wait to be alone just to eat. Seems easier for him."

Naruto scoffed at the man beside him. So much for how smart Nara Shikamaru was, he didn't know anything. "There was no food Shikamaru…I know they heard me coming down the hallway and decided to annoy me. You should have seen the look on their faces."

"What look was that?" He kept his tone even and nonchalant though his mind was anything but. _'There was no food. So he had his mask down, for no other reason than to just have it down...After years of having it up all the time...'_

"They were acting all surprised, like they didn't know I was coming and I scared them. Like people just sneak up and scare shinobi all the time" Naruto seemed to be getting more irritated as he spoke. "Then he wouldn't show me his face and -"

"Yoo… The dogs haven't picked up anything so far….what are we doing?"

Shikamaru's heart stopped in his chest with shock as a hand clapped him on the back. He was a ninja, and someone just snuck up on him and scared him. He felt guilty and ashamed as he looked up in to the eye-crinkling smile of Hatake Kakashi. _'He was here the whole time, checking on the ninken. I'm filing him away as a subordinate-screwing, manipulative pervert, and he's actually working….While I just stand here doing nothing. Gods what is wrong with me?! Maybe I **should** ask Sakura out, I need to get a life…then if she said yes...I could say for sure she wasn't sleeping with Kakashi…...unless she dated me and slept with him…then who would she be cheating on?...what a pain.'_ He briefly wished his mom was here. She could always just look at people and know everything they did all the time, no matter how secretive they were about it. It was a gift and a curse for the Nara men. Then he felt a stab of self-hate, because he was a grown man and had just wished for his mom to be with him.

Naruto scowled at his team-leader. "Wondering why you don't show us your face…"

"I wasn't wondering that…"The shadow-user already felt guilty enough, he didn't need the man to know he had just been the topic of his thoughts.

"Because you two would make fun of how ugly I am…" Kakashi answered lightly as he searched the crowd for a head of pink-hair. He had just split up from Sakura after they snuck away to check on the ninken. It wasn't for nearly long enough, he hadn't even been able to touch her.

"No we wouldn't" Naruto frowned. "Where is Sakura? Kankuro is over there…"He motioned toward the area the puppet-master had just been standing. "Oh..there she is…"

They all turned to watch while Hinata and Sakura looked in to Kankuro's hand. Sakura had bravely put Hinata in between herself and the crazy sand-ninja and was peeking over her shoulder.

"I bet you seven lunches… he tries to poison her…" Naruto offered mildly as he took in the scene.

"Double it… and let say, Yes he poisons her…but it takes him at least twenty minutes…" Kakashi placed his own wager on the table. Sakura was smart; she knew he would try to poison her. But Kankuro probably had a whole arsenal of equipment to ensnare her with, and had most likely set up an elaborate trap. You had to be realistic about these things.

"I'll take that bet…I say it takes under twenty minutes…"Naruto held out his hand in front of the astonished face of Shikamaru, who was watching in fascination as the two men took bets on their team-mate getting poisoned_. 'I was wrong…there is nothing going on between them. You don't bet the person you're sleeping with is going to get poisoned. Unless you're a morbid sociopath…well…it is Kakashi..sooo…'_ He was actually still very undecided.

The copy-ninja shook Naruto's proffered hand. "Deal, now that's fourteen…"

"I know how to add seven and seven..." Naruto scoffed.

"hnnn…nice kite." The mask-man looked to the giant kite under Naruto's arm, which he was suddenly trying to hide behind his back.

* * *

Sakura frowned down at the small creature in Kankuro's hand from behind Hinata's back. It was a tiny, somewhat cute, and extremely poisonous reptile thing. The puppet-user had been spending the last few months working with its toxins, breeding them, and also dosing himself to build up an immunity.

"That's nice Kankuro, don't touch me with it." She replied flatly.

"uhh…" was all Hinata could manage. She was just really waiting for the fireworks to start. She didn't want to see Kankuro's bug-lizard. And she really didn't want to be so close to it knowing how dangerous it could be. The danger it posed grew exponentially the longer it sat in the hands of the overzealous sand-ninja.

"I won't, you would die." He answered with a proud smile.

"I would not." Sakura's eyes narrowed, her arrogance forcing her to defy him.

"Sakura, his potency is extremely high, in two minutes you would black out. Before that happened you would go in to uncontrollable convulsions, I've been breeding them to raise their toxicity."

"Do you know what I can do in two minutes?"

"**Not** stop this guy's poison from attacking your nervous system…" He raised his eyebrows in amused disbelief.

"Yes I can."

"Well then touch him…I don't care..."he shrugged

"Fine." She reached her hand insolently out to grab the stupid ugly red creature.

Hinata shook her head. This didn't seem like a good idea. Didn't Sakura just say…. _'Kankuro, don't touch me with it. '_…only thirty seconds ago and now for some reason, she was going to touch it. The excited smile on Kankuro's face only solidified the _'Not a good idea'_ feeling the Hyuuga had. "Sakura maybe—"

"Whoa…let's not do that..." A hand snatched Sakura's away from the little monster in Kankuro's hand.

Sakura glared up at the smiling face of the copy-ninja who had just rained on her parade.

"Kakashi-sensei we had a bet and you interfered! I win!" Naruto exclaimed with joy from behind Kakashi as his team-leader pulled their medic away from the lizard-toting-puppet-ninja.

Shikamaru tucked his hands in his pockets and shook his head at them all.

The masked-man sighed deeply. _'She was just going to grab it. No traps. No system. No covert sneak attack. She was just going to pick it up and poison herself…good call Hatake.'_ He shook his head sadly at his own short-sightedness and stared at the frustrated look on his medic's face. "You just made me lose a bet…now I have two-weeks worth of food to buy Naruto."

"Two-weeks! Count_** that** _Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto preened.

Kakashi puffed his cheeks out in defeat, and turned to the thwarted face of Kankuro. "Get out of here Kankuro before I tell the Kazekage you're trying to poison more Konoha Shinobi."

The Sand shinobi was gone in an flash.

"Why were you about to grab that?" Kakashi asked incredulously.

"Because he said it would kill me." Sakura answered resolutely, wondering why he would ask for the obvious.

The entire group stared at the suicidal pink-haired woman for a beat.

"..Well it wouldn't have…" She felt the need to explain further as the silence stretched toward the awkward.

Shikamaru's eyes were locked on to the gentle way Kakashi's hand was still wrapped around Sakura's wrist at her side.

**BOOM**

The entire village looked skyward as an explosion of color erupted above them.

Hinata clutched the little paper dragon to her chest in exhilaration

Shikamaru pursed his lips in thought.

Naruto frowned deeply. The display was amazing, the noise was disturbingly familiar. Why was it making him so uncomfortable?

Kakashi recoiled slightly and tensed. His first thought was that they we're under attack again from Norio. The crackling, whistling, explosions paralleled the rouge-ninjas kekkei-genkai completely.

Sakura stepped back and bumped in to the masked-jounin behind her. The noise, the smell of the smoke drifting down, the whistling crack. _'Sai...'_ The campsite, his body burned and broken, outside of Tani where she left Kakashi, the loss, the confusion, the pain and the failure, it was coming back in the pops and booms of the fireworks above Suna.

A pair of large hands squeezed lightly at her upper arms. He could feel her alarm as she backed in to him. Why hadn't he even thought about this? He described the noise like popping fireworks a hundred times in his head and on the mission debriefs. It was no less true now. Every time one went off he waited tensely for the ground underneath him to open up. His heart picked up speed, even though he logically knew there was no danger, his body refused to believe it was safe.

The reason it was so upsetting dawned on Naruto as he laid his eyes on the ridged appearance of his two teammates. It was this noise that he heard as he was making his way to the campsite where he found Sai and Sakura. It was this noise they had described as one of the rouge-ninjas Kekkei-genkai.

"I need to go back to my room." Sakura pulled away from Kakashi and her comrades that were all looking toward them. Too many eyes, too much noise, too much. She needed to go inside, she needed quiet. She needed to not be here.

"Sakura—"Naruto held out his hand to try to bring her back toward him.

"It's ok just…leave me alone. I'm going..." She held her hand out apologetically and turned to move back through the crowd, making her way swiftly as possible back to her building, her room, her shower and her bed.

The copy-ninja stared after his pink-haired team-mate as she disappeared, torn as to what to do. Did he leave her alone like she asked? Or did he go to her? He met Naruto's eye and saw the confusion he felt reflected in face of his subordinate.

"Just give her a few minutes alone, and I'll go talk to her." He answered after a few seconds.

* * *

Sakura yanked the blinds and curtains closed in her room as she hopped on one foot ripping off her shoes. She could still hear the crashing of the fireworks outside.

_'...just turn the radio on...'_ She turned around and squinted in the room. Of course there was no radio.

She gave a worn-out sigh and sat down on the edge of the bed in the darkness, her head in her hands. She wanted to cry, but not again. She cried to much these past few weeks and tears didn't bring the dead back to life. Tears didn't solve problems. Tears didn't turn back time.

Another loud explosion sounded outside the window and the image of a tree exploding across from her during the campsite mission flew through her brain. The stinging in her face, the tree stuck in her side.

She reached her hand down from her waist to touch at the area above her left hip where the blotchy scar still sat hidden under her clothes. How had she gotten so scared in so little time? The pale lines on her arm from when she spent time under Norio's kunai. The two on her face, the one on her hip and the other another under her hair, all from that failed mission on the border. And all the scars she carried in her heart, of burden, pain, failure, loss and guilt. She was still alive, but it was a bitter-sweet victory.

She looked up as the lock tumbled on her door_. 'Who came after me when I told them to leave me alone?' _The outline of Kakashi stood in the bright light of the hallway looking in to her room._ '…of course it was him…'_

"Sakura?" He muttered. His voice full of apprehensive concern, he didn't want to make her mad by coming after her, but he couldn't just leave her alone.

"Yeah"

He walked in and locked the door behind him. He didn't know what to say, so he just went and sat beside his team-mate quietly on the bed, his knee brushing against her's as he rubbed his hand over his face. The bursts and booms from outside muffled their way through the walls in to the dark room.

"It was just too loud, I'm ok…" She justified her actions after a few minutes of silence.

"Please don't lie to me…"Kakashi spoke lowly, his voice betraying the despair he was feeling at not being able to think of anything to make her feel better.

The anguish in his voice clenched at her chest, and she reached her hand out to grab his own. She hadn't meant to upset him. "I won't…I'm sorry, I just wanted to get away and be alone."

He looked down at their entwined fingers and nodded quietly. "I understand, I'll go—"

"Please don't….stay with me…" She bit her lip in the obscurity of the room as another boom rocked the windows in their frame. "Just stay here with me..." She pulled her hand from his and touched the line of his masked jaw lightly. She wanted him closer to her, wanted to feel him.

He turned to watch her as her fingers ran up the side of his face and tugged the generic black hetai-ate off his head. "Sakura….?" He was nervous. He knew what she was telling him. Wasn't it too soon? After their crazed actions this morning the meeting room he had told himself he wouldn't do anything like that to her again. She deserved more than being laid out on a table like a cheap date he met at a bar. She was his Sakura, his brave little medic.

He touched her arm softly to stop her as she reached to pull his mask up over his head also. "Sakura…it's too fast, we just…" He wasn't sure what to call what they we're doing with eachother now.

"We just what?...met? You already know everything about me Kakashi…" Her heart was pounding in her ears; she couldn't hear the noise outside anymore. He was afraid, and so was she. But she wanted this nervous, gentle, funny, strange man. She wanted him to put his arms around her and take her somewhere else and tell her it would be ok.

When she reached to tug his mask off this time he didn't stop her.

His heart was in his throat as the masked dropped to the ground beside his hitai-ate and he stared at it as he felt her fingers brush against his throat softly. _'…Gods we shouldn't be doing this...' _But that didn't seem to matter anymore. Here she was, this beautiful kunoichi who had survived with him, walked next to him, joked with him, and now she wanted him. And he would be a liar to say he didn't want her the same way.

The delicate fingers on his throat reached up and turned his head from the floor to met her gaze, her face hardly visible in the dark room. It was different then this morning; this wasn't some kinked up lust bomb of emotion that came out of nowhere. They both knew what would happen if they proceeded any further, and they weighed the options heavily.

Sakura exhaled as she felt his face turn in to her hand. Had she been holding her breath? His lips gently kissing along her palm, on the inside of her wrist and up her forearm. She lifted her other hand slid it softly though his unkempt hair watching his slow progression upwards. Heat spread through her body, stemming from the soft graze of his mouth on her flesh.

As he reached the crease of her elbow he pulled his lips away and stood, pulling her up with him. He placed a soft kiss on her mouth and leaned back to look at her. It was too dark. He took a few steps along the bed, guiding her along with him by the arm and flipped on the small bedside lamp.

Sakura squinted in confusion and looked at him, the question written all over her face. What was he doing?

"I want to see you…" He explained.

She fought the urge to blush as she nodded her approval. He pulled her to him and began plying those subtle touches of his lips to her neck, his tongue slipping over her rapid pulse as she moved her head to give him more access. Her hands found the hem of his shirt and she wanted it off. She gathered the fabric and pushed it upwards until he realized what she was doing and put his own hand behind his back to tug it off the rest of the way for her.

His toned and scarred body was a sight to behold. The familar scar on his hip that slipped below his pants, was kept company by several chalky white starburst marks all over his chest and abdomen, where he had probably be stabbed with a kunai and refused medical treatment. Another formidable scar zipped from right above his collar bone straight down to his armpit. He still had faint bruising along his ribs from the ordeal in Tani, and of course the still healing lacerations on his arm from Norio. He was a mess, a wonderful, remarkable mess.

She ran her thumb over the pale line that ran through his lips as she raised her eyes from his body to his face. He pulled at the zipper of the jacket she wore and slid it over her shoulders to the floor. Next he lifted her shirt hesitantly, his eyes meeting hers. "Can I..?"

She nodded and lifted her arms, words escaping her in the moment. She felt the chill of the air hit her skin as her shirt hit the floor and she opened her eyes to look at him. He had his sharingan open, the tomoe spinning softly, as he raked his eyes over her. She felt exposed under his stare and reached to put her hands over her scantily clad chest, vaguely wishing she had chosen a slightly prettier bra.

He pulled her arms away and shook his head. "You don't even see how beautiful you are Sakura, do you?" he spoke just above a whisper. He wrapped his arms around her body, dragging her to his warm firm chest. His fingers danced across the skin of her back and along the strap of her bra as he found the clasp. "..is it ok..?"

She nodded in to his shoulder in answer.

Kakashi laid a few soft kisses on her bare shoulder. "..can you answer me Sakura?" He didn't want to do this if she was afraid. He didn't want to pressure her.

She found her voice but it was weak and trembling. No one had ever done this to her before, she felt strange. Like a tiger that suddenly realized, maybe it had been a kitten this whole time. "Yes…its ok…" She turned her face up to stare at him and his mouth met hers as her arms slid from her bra and dropped near her shirt and jacket.

Kakashi put an arm around her back and leaned down, his other arm on the bed and his lowered her softly under him and slid her up toward the pillows. He slanted his mouth over hers again, and she felt the smooth, warm skin of his body pressing against her. His chest rubbing against her breasts, his arm around her back pulling her closer to him as his tongue slipped and danced with hers.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked again his voice dark and wary, as he whispered in to her ear.

Her body was on fire. Every time he moved against her she wanted more. "I'm sure, please don't stop Kakashi…" She muttered quietly her fingers running up his back to press him tighter to her as she kissed and tasted the skin along his shoulder.

"I won't…"he promised as his lowered his head back to her neck and dragged his mouth down to her collar bone, her fingers tangling in his hair, her eyes closed with pleasure. He took her nipple in his mouth and used his tongue and teeth to play softly at it, the hand he wasn't using to brace himself over her, ran up her waist and cupped her other breast, his strong hands gentle touching and carassing the maleable flesh under his fingers as she arched in to him.

She felt him everywhere, his legs pressed against the outside of hers, his hips reflexively grinding against her own, his mouth all over her chest and dropping slowly lower inch by inch. She rubbed her thighs together to attempt to alleviate the ache that had built up. It wasn't working, she was more aroused then she could ever remember being. Her fingers slid up the rigid muscular contours of his arms as he slid his tongue against the scar she received at the campsite above her hip. Her breath hitched as she felt his hand press softly against the fabric of her shorts in between her legs and she rolled her hips against him with a soft moan.

Kakashi trailed his tounge along the pale taunt skin on her abdomen as he slipped his hand under the waistband of her shorts and her panties and tugged them down slowly together, over her hips, down her legs and on to the floor. Then he sat up to take in the sight of her in front of him without a scrap of clothing on.

Sakura blushed hotly as she watched his different colored eyes travel up along her body. She crossed her legs and threw her arm over her chest. She couldn't help the awkward giggle that slipped out and she slapped her other hand over her face to cover her outburst.

Kakashi's gave his sluggish lop-sided smile at her innocent display of modesty, he would never forget that look. He leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on her naked hip bone, his smile broadening as he heard her breath catch and her body jump at the gentle touch. He braced himself on his forearm as he once again laid his tongue against her breasts, his hand sliding in between her legs. He closed his eyes and clenched his jaw while his finger slipped in to the wet sensitive folds. Gods she was so wet.

The pink-haired woman let out a stifled moan as she felt his fingers rubbing softly against her most sensitive area. She rolled her hips steadily against the antagonizing slow touches that made her tremble, her fingers finding his face to pull him up to her. He responded to her physical pleas quickly, and without stopping his gentle strokes between her legs shifted his body to come parallel to her face. She pulled his lips greedily to hers; pushing her way in to his mouth, her breath catching with every slow caress he plied to her. She wanted more of him, she wanted all of him. She wanted him to feel as good as she did, she wanted to hear him, feel him and taste him.

She lowered her fingers between their bodies to fumble at the button on his pants in haste. Kakashi pulled away from her gently, laying only soft pecks along her jaw as he slid his hand down her help her remove his pants. He undid the zipper, and with her help pushed the impeding garment away and off the bed.

Her stomach fluttered at the masculine sight of her silver-haired man looming naked over her, his muscles clenched tightly in desire, his eyes eating her body. She wrapped her hand around the back of his neck and pulled him in to another kiss, her other hand snaking down to reach between them, her fingers dancing lightly against the soft skin of his erect length. She reveled in the way he froze above her and inhaled sharply as she took him in her hand. His hips pushing him farther in to her fingers as a low groan escaped his lips.

She pulled her hand away from his erection and along his back, pressing his hips down toward her own, showing him what she wanted. He understood completely and didn't stop to ask her if it was ok this time. He pushed her legs apart and pressed a soft kiss to her mouth as he moved to guide himself in, stopping right before he slipped in to her. "Sakura..look at me.."

Her heart skipped a few beats in her chest as she pried her lids open and met his soft mis-matched eyes, and they were both still, drinking in the sight of each other. She held his gaze as he pushed his hips forward and slid in to her, filling her tightly. He bit down on his lip and let out a raspy moan as her eyes fluttered shut with relief and need. He paused and looked down at her as he submerged himself fully, her eyes staring back up at him. He was inside her, and she was all around him. He lowered his mouth to hers to drag her in to a languid kiss as he began to thrust in to her with a slow even pace.

She arched in to him, his low helpless groans rumbling against her mouth as he kissed her, drove her mad with satisfaction. She felt him as she shifted slightly, his tongue sweeping over hers, and his other hand dropped down between them to stroke again at her clit as he continued to push in to her.

It was too much, the hot coil deep inside her constricted with every push, every rub, every moan and soon she was clinging to him, her hips rolling against his hand and forcing him as deep as he could go. He dropped the kiss and laid his cheek against hers, as he increased his speed slightly, his breath catching in the same rhythm as hers, his fingers still sliding up and down between her legs as he filled her so completely.

"Kakashi…."She uttered as his caressing fingers and deep thrusting took her over the edge. She arched in to him pulling him to her as she found her release. Her body squeezing tight as the orgasm spread from between her legs and throughout her body like a ripple of dripping pleasure.

He groaned harshly and removed his hand from between them and slid it underneath her, maneuvering her so he could pour himself farther in to her, her body still contracted tightly around him after she had reached her peak. The feel and sound of her desires being met reverberated deep inside of him. His movements became rougher and more jagged as he felt his own climax drawing near. She wrapped her legs around his back, meeting his thrusts halfway, urging him on.

"Sakura." He rasped almost in pain. His back tensed and he buried his head in the crook of her neck as his body strained rigidly and he plunged deeply in to her one last time, grinding against her, filling her as his body succumb to the spasms of pleasure she brought him too.

She wrapped her arms loosely around his back as he fell panting against, her laying soft tired kisses along her chest and neck between breaths.

She placed a small kiss to his sweaty forehead and gave a contented sigh as she came back down to reality. "The fireworks stopped…"she whispered

Kakashi exhaled deeply and pushed himself off of the woman under him and rolled over to lay beside her. "…You were wrong you know…" He held his arm out and she quickly moved against his side, her smooth legs shifting to lay over top of his, her head on his chest.

"What..?" She mumbled in a haze, tracing her finger over the scar by his collar-bone.

"I don't know everything about you…like…I didn't know you had this…" He trailed his index finger down her side and touched a dark freckle right above her pelvic bone.

She laughed lightly against his chest and shook her head. "Idiot...Do you think they are going to come check on us when they get back?"

"Yeah, but not yet….lets just stay like this for a while." He pressed a kiss to her forehead as she snuggled in closer to him and ran his hand up and down her naked side,as he closed his eyes. He wanted it to be like this all the time, but life never allowed him simple pleasures, and he knew this wouldn't be an exception to the rules. So he would hold her close to him right now, and enjoy it while he could.

* * *

**A/N**

So this is going to be the last update until after christmas. No don't cry...I promise it will be back! I just have alot of stuff to do. Getting ready for my next course in jan, christmas, mandatory OT at work -_- Yeah thrilling things. So I don't want to try to rush this story and screw up something because my plot is about to...I'm not telling. ;p

**Ninken Ears**

**R&R & Happy christmas**


	18. Questions and Answers

_I don't own Naruto. I also do not own an island, but there are plenty for sale online._

_ I found a giraffe baby for sale for 150,000. Seems slightly against some rules somewhere_

_but I really want my own giraffe.-_-_

_Rated T for Teen._

_Just kidding.._

_Rated M for Mature-ish audiences only._

**_Questions and Answers_**

* * *

Yori tilted his head back and sucked down the stiff drink with a wince. The scroll on the table in front of him flickered brightly as orders began being jotted down from that far away place orders usually came from. He hadn't had nearly enough to drink this morning yet. Better yet, he hadn't had nearly enough to drink last night. Seems like there was never quite enough to drink these days.

'_You need to mobilize your team as quickly as possible. We have been compromised.' _Floated across the top of the page

"Hello to you too..."Yori muttered as he read over the information. He poured another drink as he read over the words again. "You've gotta be kidding me..." he scoffed at the scroll before starting his own reply.

'_We don't have enough people yet. You said we wouldn't start until the beginning of spring, winter had only just started. '_

'_Nobu discovered one of the merchant documents has been tampered with in Tani. It's been confirmed that the Copy-ninja is replicating it and trying to decipher it in Suna. There are also a few other issues that are going to be causing us trouble in the near future. We need to do something now. There is no more time.'_

Yori frowned at the scroll. That fucking copy-ninja, he was a quick bastard. The lanky kekkei-genkai user had almost gotten around to slit his throat on that chase over the border, almost. He ended up only cutting his masked face instead, oh well.

He sighed deeply at the words that proved him right. Putting incriminating evidence on paper was about one of the stupidest things you could possibly do when you started delving into the world of criminal activities. He had told them as much when the plan with the merchants was being hatched. But no one listened to him; they were all certain their measures would be impervious and no-one would find out. Plus the damn merchants were so anal retentive about their books, even the illegal ones. Gods forbid they lose a bit of money somewhere.

Speaking of money.

'_And the payment ? This will mean extra work for the teams. We still haven't replaced the three people we lost in the skirmish on the border of River and Fire, and they have Kanta ...So we are short one whole team...' _He was not Norio; he wasn't in this for a higher purpose, or to prove himself. There were promises made and monetary compensation agreed to. If the game was changing, so was his asking price. It was the reason the damn merchants were involved in the first place. Money had to come from somewhere. It certainly didn't grow on trees, or else he would have stopped this shit a long time ago and become a money tree farmer.

He could almost hear the frustrated sighs as the reply was spilled across the scroll. _'Yes, you will be compensated. I'm sure your team is __more __than sufficient to carry out this mission. Nobu and Asuka will be meeting Dai tomorrow, then they will do their part. Norio's team in River will do the same.'_

"Hmm..." Yori pursed his lips at the underlined word and slapped back another drink. _'Ok, will do. We are about a day away from the border, so three days tops...' _

'_Remember the plan Yori, or there will be no payment. If we get discovered-'_

Yori rolled his eyes. One boss was like any other; always saying the same thing over and over again. _'...We will get the canvas ready, you paint the picture. I know.'_

'_Contact as soon as the mission is carried out.'_

'_Yep.'_

Yori rolled up the scroll and tucked it in the front of his shirt, poured himself another drink and made his way across the hall to his teammates.

* * *

Mitsuo stared at his hand of cards in disappointment and pushed his glasses further up on his nose. Shit he was terrible at this game. "Whatever..." He slapped the cards down in frustration.

Shinchai brayed loudly in laughter, her short blonde hair bouncing around joyously as she collected the money off the table. "You're terrible at this..." She echoed his thoughts.

Mitsuo shrugged noncommittally and put his boots up on the table, leaning his chair back on its back legs. Shinchai would be pretty, if she shut her big mouth sometime, which never happened. "You're annoying Shinchai."

The pale blonde woman eyed his boots. "Your boots on my table are fuckin annoying."

Mitsuo gave a smug smile and shrugged again. "Boots on your table...are just boots on your table…"

"Boots on my table? What the fuck does that even mean? …Boots on my table…are just boots on my table? You're just a little-"

The door slid open. Yori walked in and eyed his two bickering teammates. "If you two have something worth saying, you might consider not saying it for once." He slid the door shut behind him.

"Hey Bendy, what's the word?" Mitsuo leaned his head back with a smile, teetering dangerously on the back two legs of his rickety chair. He was eager to see if the Kekkei-Genkai user would respond to his new nickname. Yori had refused to even blink every time he called him 'Rubber'.

"They say to move out and go ahead with the plan..." he scratched at his forehead with the hand not clutching a glass of liquor. He looked between the Fire-user with his boots on the table and the Blonde woman with an armful of the fire-users money.

The room fell quiet as the two at the table tried to piece together what the man with the drink meant.

"Which plan?" Shinchai tilted her head in thought. He couldn't mean _The Plan_. "Not** the**-" She held up quotey fingers around the word "The."

"-Yep...that's the one..."Yori answered as she tried to grab for the words.

"But-" Mitsuo creased his brow.

"Yep..." Yori said

"Hmm..." Shinchai frowned

"We're getting compensated." Yori added to see if that would make a difference. It made one to him.

The brown-haired fire user shrugged. "Yeah, but we're still short a team..."

"Well, Norio dropped the ball in Tani with his team. We got compromised; we gotta move now or be found out." Yori explained in a bored tone.

Shinchai found her voice again. "Shouldn't be too difficult...we just have to move a little faster and cover our tracks well. They're going to be so confused; I don't think being short of three people is going to matter in the end."

Mitsuo wasn't convinced as he watched the short-haired woman. "I don't know. With four teams, that was four different things to chase after and try to pin down. Now there's only three...so technically we have lost twenty-five percent of-"

"Damnit Mitsuo, stop that..." Yori casually kicked the legs out from under the chair the fire-user sat so precariously in. The man in the glasses groped the air as he plummeted down on his back. "We are going to do it...No matter how scared you are." He stared down at his floored teammate.

Shinchai laughed at the man on the carpet, whose face was the definition of defeated. "Scared Mitsuo?"

"I'm not scared, just logical…remember the campsite? That got **all** fucked up..." He exclaimed with disbelief and turned his eyes on the laughing woman, adjusting his glasses appropriately. "You're annoying me Shinchai..."

"Your fuckin feet in the air are annoying me…" She glared and pointed at his boots.

"Fuck! Can you two stop arguing for a damn minute..." Yori gestured angrily at them and then made a gathering motion. "Get your shit together, we're leaving now."

"Ok Bendy we're moving." Shinchai held her hand out to help her teammate off the floor with a smile and nodded toward Yori.

Mitsuo took her hand and stood with a laugh, both looking toward their tall team leader as he finished off his drink. "Yeah Bendy, we're going keep your skirt on..."

Yori cut his eyes and pointed at the Duo. "...Don't call me Bendy...we leave in one hour." He was getting too old for this shit.

* * *

Sakura blew her cheeks out as she walked away from the building with Hinata. He was watching her she could feel it, she could feel it everywhere, prickling and hot. Just the thought was creating the fluttering in her stomach that she still couldn't get under control. Every time he turned that slow, lazy gaze to her she wanted to bury herself in the ground. She was going to lose it.

It had been three days since the night of the fireworks; since that night with Kakashi. Everything had changed and everything stayed impossibly the same. They were still on the mission, still busy. Hinata had gotten approval for herself and another person to learn the Jutsu that they needed so badly. The elders had decided on Sakura, probably because she was the Hokage's apprentice and they thought it would look good in Tsunade's eyes. They were mostly right. Tsunade would be proud of Sakura for doing this. _'She'll be proud of that, but not about the other things I've been doing.' _ The image of her team leader pressing soft kisses to her naked chest flashed in her mind and guilt flooded her stomach.

Kakashi had completely finished recreating the Tani notebook yesterday morning. He had been laboring over it for the past two days. They needed answers and that was the only lead they had so far. They had all spent time raiding as many of Suna's book shelves as possible to try to get a jump on the strange language the Copy-ninja was throwing down on paper. So far they had nothing.

They hadn't had any time alone together since that night. They were on a mission, they were surrounded by teammates, and it was impossible. Anytime she was alone, he was with someone else working diligently. Anytime he would break away from his tasks and try to go see her, she was weighed down with duty and had no time. His absence at her side was painfully noted and she felt stupid for how much she missed him. It had only been a few days since they had taken this leap; she had no right to long for him like that. But she did anyways.

"Sakura, are you alright?" Hinata whispered softly as they entered the pristine compound.

"Oh, yes I'm fine Hinata. Sorry I was distracted." Sakura bit her lip and smiled over at her friend.

Hinata nodded in understanding. "It's ok, I'm nervous too, but I'm sure we will get it right. From what I know it has a lot to do with Chakra manipulation. So with my Byakugan and your control, we should be fine. "She continued to whisper.

"I just don't want to mess this up..." Sakura lied and forced a smile at her white eyed friend's interpretation of her distraction. _'I'm such a liar. When did I become such a liar? Oh...Probably when I started sleeping with my team-leader...'_ As per usual, every time she got out of what she was now mentally calling _'The Kakashi-Zone', _her brain began to overload with worry.

Someone was going to find out. Someone always did. _'What if it was Naruto...? He would kill Kakashi...What's going to happen when we finally get home, when this mission is over? Gods what am I doing?' _ Well great,now she wanted to throw up, or get a headache. She couldn't decide, maybe it was both.

Sakura braced herself for a day full of formalities, over bearing elders, and concentration. They were both quietly ushered into the secure location where they would be taught. She pushed her masked Jounin and her problems to the back of her mind. She had work to do and a mission to complete. Time wouldn't stand still and wait for her to figure out what the hell she was doing with her life.

* * *

Kakashi watched Sakura walk away toward the compound with Hinata, hands in his pockets and brain on the feel of her underneath him...around him. The touch of her hands on his face. Her soft laugh and the way she shyly bit her lip when she tried not to look at him these past few days.

Lust and desire were very uncouth feelings and they tried to catch him off guard all the time. He could feel himself on the verge of stiffening in a very inappropriate and very pleasant way. He blinked. _'...time to go.' _ He spun on his heel, walked around the corner to go back inside and narrowly missed bouncing into their pony-tailed teammate

"Yo Shikamaru, you're up early." Kakashi's eye crinkled.

"I was looking for you..." Shikamaru peered around Kakashi to see where he had come from. _'What is he doing outside? We only just stopped looking over the books a few hours ago. He said he was going to sleep...but he's outside. Well, he does sleep outside a lot...and I said I was going to go to sleep too...because I'm really tired...but no... here I am...not sleeping, but stalking another man instead...because something's going on...or I'm just a lunatic...' _He had done the math the night before while they were looking over the books. There was indeed a sixty percent chance he could be a lunatic.

Kakashi leaned out to intercept Shikamaru's searching gaze. "Here I am."

"Where's everyone else?" he stood back and shoved his hands in his pockets also. Slipping into the casual, lazy demeanor everyone knew him for.

"Hinata and Sakura just left..." Kakashi gestured over his shoulder. "Naruto went to a council meeting with Gaara to represent Konoha; he said he would be gone for a while." He motioned in the direction of the Kazekage dome.

"Oh, the girls just left?" The tactician asked, stifling a yawn. _'Gods what is wrong with me? I need to stop this there isn't anything going on. So he went to talk to her after she got upset about the fireworks. Naruto got anxious too and he didn't even fight the kekkei-genkai user... Although it __**was**__ weird that they never came back, even after the fireworks...But when we went to check on them Sakura was asleep and he was in his own room. Nothing happening at all...it was very...'_ He wanted to say normal, but he couldn't. If it was normal, why did he keep tailing his teammates?

Kakashi's eye narrowed slightly. Shikamaru seemed very curious about his medic's whereabouts these days and he always seemed to be around for some reason or another. Naruto said the shadow-user had a crush on Sakura, but he didn't believe it. Now he was starting to have some serious doubts. The little monster of jealousy that lived in his chest, and claimed Sakura for its own, growled territorially at Shikamaru._ 'Don't start that Hatake, you're not a dog pissing on your territory. Territory you actually don't even belong on in the first place..._' His logic fought a heroic battle with jealousy and seemed to be on the winning side. "Yeah, they said they would be gone most of the day too...so it looks like it will be just us for now."

The shadow-user frowned._ 'Did he just cut his eyes at me? Oh right...Eye…His __**one **__eye that I can see...I can't even see his face. How can I tell how he looks? It would be helpful if I could see his whole face. Sakura's seen it. Maybe he just really doesn't want Naruto to see his face, just like that orange freak thinks...'_ His heart quickened slightly in his chest. He was being ridiculous, he was being an idiot, and he was following his gut, just like his dad had always told him too. "Can I see your face?"

The masked man stared blankly at the slouching Nara, trying to find out what he was really looking for. _'Shikamaru doesn't care about my face. Where is this coming from?' _He plastered his eye crinkle on to ease the tension he was feeling. "Why so curious all of a sudden Shikamaru?

Shikamaru took a leap and hoped he landed in water. Deep water. Not too deep though; he didn't want to drown. Just a comfortable amount of water. "Sakura saw it..." He shrugged listlessly as he trained his eyes on the copy-ninja.

There it was again. The Shadow-boy was talking about his medic and now he was staring him down. Jealousy bristled in challenge to the Nara's gaze. "Sakura saved my life..." he tried to keep his voice light and teasing, he wasn't sure if he was doing a good job or not.

"She saves everyone's life, she's a medic. She's saved my life plenty of times...she's just good at her job." Shikamaru noted the silver-haired man's tense posture and edgy tone. '_He's getting irritated.'_

Kakashi was getting very irritated and he didn't want to get irritated. He wanted to figure out what Shikamaru was up too, he needed to know his motives. He only had one choice: to set Shikamaru back on his heels and confuse him. A confused enemy was easy to overcome and decipher. "Uh...Shikamaru..." He reached his hand up to scratch sheepishly at the back of his neck, playing his part well. "Naruto told me you're interested in Sakura...I'm not really comfortable talking about her with you. You should just ask her out yourself...after the mission of course."

The tactician was dumbfounded. _'Where the hell did that come from?'_ This had not gone right. "I'm not..." he shook his head. "...Naruto misunderstood." He felt himself growing hot under the concentrated stare of the copy-ninja. _'Gods, He's telling me to date her and he's warning me not to get involved with her on a mission. How can I even be thinking there is something going on between them? What is wrong with me? He was irritated because he thinks I'm asking him about dating his teammate, while we are on an important assignment...' _His shame engulfed him as he looked up from his shoes to Kakashi's masked face. He seriously considered the various ways a mask could come in handy. He really wanted one right now.

'_Nice Hatake, you got him. It's all over his face, he's blushing worse than Hinata.' _ Kakashi didn't even try to stop himself as he roughly clapped Shikamaru on the shoulder. "Not on the mission Shikamaru...do you understand?" He forced a smile. _'Not on the mission, after the mission or any other time ...ever...' _His thoughts continued for him, silently going over what he could not say aloud.

"Uhh...Ok...I know.." Shikamaru stared at the hand on his shoulder, squeezing him slightly harder than was necessary.

Kakashi nodded back toward the building, putting his arm around the shadow-users shoulders._ 'Friends close...enemies closer...'_ He laughed lightly to himself as the thought flickered across his mind. Shikamaru liked his medic. The information put him at ease. At least he knew why the shadow-user seemed to be so 'always-around' these days. "Let's look over those books again; we had to have missed something."

"Yeah, ok." Shikamaru frowned as he let himself be led inside the building. His shock was wearing off and he began going over what had just happened. _'Did I just get out maneuvered by Kakashi? No. I need to stop. This is all blowing up in my face. Kakashi and Sakura are just close friends that have been through a lot together. If Asuma was alive and I was a girl...we would be just like them and people would be gossiping about us...'_

He furrowed his brow at the thought; he didn't want to be the girl. _'Maybe it would be better if Asuma was the girl...' _He immediately regretted that choice. Asuma made the ugliest girl in the world. He would definitely never date her, ever. No matter how good she was at shogi. He could do better than that. He got lost deep in his thoughts._ 'Neji would make a pretty girl...Sasuke too...and they both don't talk a lot...of course Sasuke is a traitor and Neji is a Hy-.' _He caught himself. What the fuck was he doing? He hated his brain sometimes.

* * *

The two leaf-nin spent the day going over the books they had and made one tumultuous journey down to Kankuro's puppet cave to get more books.

The puppet users 'not-so-secret' secret-lair made Shikamaru nervous. It was too dark. He couldn't use his shadows to stop any weird poison tipped projectiles from flying out at him.

It made Kakashi sneeze. Several times. It was very uncomfortable. He was pretty sure there were cats somewhere down there. He narrowed his eye into the darkness. _'Cats...' _

After being forced into a tour around the lair (Shikamaru's second in one week), looking over Kankuro's new puppets and poisons, meeting several of the lizard things Sakura had tried to kill herself with a few days ago and making sure not to touch any of them (no matter how many times Kankuro pretended to drop them hoping that the Konoha Shinobi would reach out and save them), the copy-ninja and the shadow-user were finally allowed to procure more books.

They both left the puppet user's den in an aggravated huff. Shikamaru searched his pockets carefully, checking for lizards as he mumbled about how much of a pain everything and everyone in Suna was. Kakashi sneezed some more and agreed with him wholeheartedly, sighing about just wanting to go home. The two men solemnly made their way back to the building under the new burden of book and the old burden of questions.

* * *

"What the hell are you guys doing?" Naruto wrinkled his nose from outside of his team-leader's open door. Shikamaru and Kakashi were next to each other lying on the bed, heads hanging off the side, eyes closed. A cornucopia of literature was strewn about the room haphazardly.

"Don't answer him; it will only make it worse..." Kakashi whispered loudly enough for Naruto to hear.

"Uh huh…" the Nara agreed and kept his eyes closed.

Naruto tried to decide what to do. He was a little jealous. What were they doing? Why did they always seem so cool?

Kakashi smiled slightly with his eyes still closed. The silence of Naruto deciding what to do next was deafening. He reached his hand down and patted the bed next to him.

Naruto stared suspiciously at Kakashi's silent invitation, but gave into his curiosity and flopped between his team leader and Shikamaru. He aligned himself in the same position and hung his head off the bed, eyes closing. "What are we doing?"

"Nothing..." Shikamaru muttered lazily.

"I don't get it..." he cracked his eyes open slightly and looked over at Kakashi.

"Just be still..." Shikamaru scolded.

"If you can't listen to the rules Naruto, you'll have to leave..." The masked man offered groggily.

Naruto pursed his lips at the two men beside him and closed his eyes again.

_ ..Three...Four...Five ...Six...Seven...Eight...Nine..._

_Ten_ minutes of complete silence and Kakashi spoke up. "Did you bring some food Naruto?"

Naruto had fallen asleep.

"There's no food smell." Shikamaru offered

Kakashi sighed and his stomach rumbled, announcing its need for food.

"Me too..." Shikamaru agreed with the protesting noises Kakashi's stomach was making.

Neither man made a move to get up. They had drained all their energy looking over the books and they still had quite a few that hadn't even been cracked open. Research was the worst. How could sitting around and doing nothing make you so tired? They would both just have to starve to death.

The end was near.

Chatter echoed down the hallway. Familiar chatter. The chatter came with the scent of food.

They had been saved.

"Girls are back...brought food." Shikamaru stated the obvious, not budging an inch. The gears in his brain covertly started rolling back into action despite his lack of energy._ 'Maybe I should just talk to Sakura...just to see what she says. No it's over, nothing is going on. I'm reading too far into this...they are just friends...I'm going to let it go...just let it go.' _

His plan to give Kakashi the third degree had backfired in his face miserably this morning and his confidence had been almost fatally wounded. It had also gone awry when he had questioned Naruto and now everyone thought he had a hard on for Sakura. He had found nothing out of the ordinary anytime they were together. Everything was explainable, except for his irrational behavior. He was wrong and it was glaringly obvious.

Kakashi heart thrummed quickly. He could hear her. Gods, had he missed her that much? It had only been...He didn't want to open his eyes to look at the clock, so he guessed…ten hours? But he hadn't got to see her yesterday hardly at all. Yes he did miss her. He wanted to grab her and kiss her. He wanted to sit her down and watch her eat her food and listen to her tell him about her day. '_Hatake, you're turning into a girl...'_ He really didn't care.

Sakura came abreast to her team-leaders door. She had already decided she wouldn't even glance at him. She was going to be nonchalant, cool and casual Sakura.

Hinata slowed and stared into Kakashi's room, grabbing Sakura's arm as the medic marched past it in a blaze of determination. She pointed to the men on the bed, all laying together, heads hanging off the sides.

Sakura swiveled her head around and stared in the room. She was afraid. What if there was something in there that pointed to her and the masked man's scandalous behavior. Like what if Kakashi was washing her panties in his sink? _'Why... would he be washing my panties in his sink?_ She started to scoff at herself and stopped. All the guys were having a slumber party in Kakashi's bed. It was kind of adorable.

The copy-ninja raised his hand in the air. "Yoo Sakura. Hungry..."

Shikamaru's hand followed Kakashi's into the air.

Naruto had woken up to the smell of deliciousness and raised his hand too. He had already eaten, but he could always go for seconds.

"Idiots..." The medic laughed and walked into the room, trying to ignore the squirming in her stomach when he said her name with his tired raspy voice.

* * *

The food was parceled out and conversations bounced around between everyone. Naruto complained about the slow-moving delegations of the council and their constant opposition to everything that seemed to make sense. Gaara argued that they were too stuck in the old ways and they proclaimed Gaara to be much too liberal, especially concerning foreign policies. Naruto had felt like that particular line of reasoning directly correlated to the fact that he was at the meeting. Whatever. In their face. He would be Hokage soon.

Hinata and Sakura spoke only briefly about the Jutsu they were studying. It was against the contract to discuss it with anyone else besides Tsunade. Hinata did however have tons to say on the way the Clan elders behaved toward them. They were rude, scornful, overbearing and supercilious. She was grudgingly forced to admit, however, that they were very finely dressed and the jutsu was extraordinarily impressive.

Shikamaru shoveled food in his mouth and threw his hand out toward all the books with an angry glare. "Nothing..." he scowled, explaining his and Kakashi's fruitless day.

Kakashi sat on the floor beside Hinata. He wanted to sit by Sakura, but she had pointedly avoided his bubble and sat between Naruto and Shikamaru on the bed as they ate. Her leg was brushing against the shadow users. It was also brushing against Naruto's, but that didn't seem to matter right now. He eyed the Nara man. His little jealousy monster pecked at his rib cage to get his attention.

Sakura peered at the book on her lap between bites. She tried not to look at Kakashi. He was looking at her, she could feel it. Again. _'Gods he shouldn't be looking at me so much...everyone is going to know...'_ She wanted to sit beside him and tell him all about the badass jutsu she was learning. But what if everyone could tell how she felt? What if they knew what she and Kakashi had done together? She was jerked of the cloud of self-doubt by hand darting in front of her eyes.

"Look..." Shikamaru reached over to the book on her legs, and flipped to a different section. He ran his finger down the page and stopped to show her where to look. "It's similar...but this isn't it, see?"

'_She sees it you're practically in her lap.'_ The copy-ninja glowered to himself and scooted his full box of food across the floor with his foot. He was hungry. He wanted them all to leave, all of them but Sakura. _'You're being a baby Hatake...' _ He was being a baby, but she was his brave little medic and everyone was always hogging her. And he was hungry, which made everything worse.

Hinata watched Kakashi as he pushed his food around on the floor. He hadn't been listening to anything she had been saying. He was staring at Shikamaru. Staring at him hard. Well, as hard as you could stare with only one eye, but it was Hatake Kakashi the copy ninja. He could stare pretty hard with only one eye. "Are you ok Kakashi-san?" She asked softly.

Kakashi stopped trying to make Shikamaru's hand, the one that was still on the book on Sakura's lap, burn off with his eye. He turned to the polite Hyuuga beside him. Shit, had she been talking? He didn't know. "Sorry Hinata...I got distracted." He pasted on his eye crinkle.

Hinata pulled her head back slightly in a wave of confusion. Déjà Vu. Didn't this already happen today? Wait no that was this morning with Sakura. She shifted her eyes to the medic between Naruto and Shikamaru, then back to Kakashi. "That's alright...it's been a long day..." she muttered unconvincingly as she stood up. "I'm going back to my room, I'm tired...that Jutsu was...difficult. See you guys later" she announced to everyone else.

"I'll go with you." Naruto jumped up his food in hand.

Hinata lips slipped into a small smile as the blonde man rushed to her side. "Ok...but I am tired Naruto-kun"

"I know... I just missed you and I need to write to Tsunade about the council meeting anyway." He kissed her lightly on the forehead, arm slung over her shoulder as they left Kakashi's room.

And then they were three.

Sakura tried to steady the rapidly rising pulse in her throat. The air had become thick with tension and she wasn't sure who it was coming from. It was blanketing Kakashi's room in a thick nervous cloud. She tried to keep her eyes on the book in front of her, staring at the text Shikamaru had pointed out. It was blurry, confusing and she couldn't focus on it. She was fighting off the blush that was looming on the horizon. It was constantly ready to flank her when she least expected it. She could feel her masked-man looking at her. She could hear Shikamaru breathing beside her. She had apparently decided to stop breathing. Why was it so quiet? _'Don't look at him... don't look at him...'_

The masked-man watched his pink-haired medic not look at him. She was so cute when she was nervous. He wanted to laugh at her distress, but the big shadow beside her was getting in the way of his humor. That big pony-tailed shadow, that just happened to be attached to his medic's thigh. He needed an idea. He wanted to be alone with her.

The Shadow-user felt suddenly uncomfortable with the fact that his leg was touching Sakura's and his hand was resting on a book in her lap. Kakashi was watching him. _'He's worried I'm going to break protocol and try to do something with her. Gods why is she so close to me? Why am I breathing so loud?'_

"Ok, I'm going to go to the training grounds and summon the pack. My chakra's coming back and I need to train some." Kakashi stood up slowly, picking his food up off the ground. The silent invitation was there, if she wanted it.

"Oooh! I'll go too. I haven't seen them in a while!" Sakura smiled and lied. She had seen the ninken the other night at the Wind Festival opening. She just needed to be alone with Kakashi. Even if it was only for a little while, she wanted to talk to him without worrying about who was watching.

"Alright, they'll be happy to see you." Kakashi smiled brightly and ruffled her hair like he always did, looking over to Shikamaru. "See ya Shikamaru." He felt a lot more pleasure from snatching his medic away from the tactician then he should. The jealousy in his chest smirked proudly. The pink haired woman was for no one else.

Shikamaru was flooded with relief as Sakura left his side. "Yeah, I'll just take the notebook and some of these books back to my room..."

"Bye Shika!" Sakura called as she scampered out the door, Kakashi held up a tiny wave over his shoulder without looking back.

The Nara eyed all the books that surrounded him and picked up three of them randomly. It didn't matter where you looked when you didn't know what you were looking for. He fled the bibliophilic mess in Kakashi's room, casting a glance down the long hallway to see the back of the copy-ninja and medic disappearing around the corner. They were already locked in harmless conversation with each other._ 'I can't believe I've been obsessing over them. He didn't even ask her to go with him, she just invited herself because she likes those dogs...Sakura walks around Konoha with Pakkun as much as I see her with Kakashi...She probably would sleep with Pakkun before she would with him..and Pakkun would probably even pay for dinner...Would that be against protocol? I'm sure it's against something...' _

He dumped the books on his bed, and dumped himself beside them with a yawn. He was tired. Today he hadn't gotten any sleep, stalked Kakashi, been forced to admit to a not-crush, been confused, been ashamed, thought a lot, stared at books, imagined Asuma, Neji and Sasuke as a women, reestablished his heterosexuality with himself, looked at puppets, not touched lizards, looked at more books, thought some more, laid in bed with two other men, reestablished his sexuality _**again**__,_ and he had been afraid. He was afraid because his not-crush was sitting too close to him in full view of the man who said "_**don't do it"**_ even though he actually had nothing he intended on doing in the first place._ 'What a pain...' _

It had been a long, nerve-wracking day so far. Shikamaru was going to take a much-needed nap.

* * *

Sasuke slouched on the hard cot in his new tiny cell, staring at the chakra inhibitors on his ankles. He was doing his part. He had done his part when he let Genma kick his ass while a handful of Anbu looked on yesterday as they deposited the cell. The small look of apology on Genma' face before he slammed the door shut didn't ease the discomfort in his jaw or ribs. If he was being honest, it kind of made it worse.

The sight of the six, small, stained and cold cells in the bottom of the prison were not unfamiliar to the Uchiha. He had been held here while Konoha decided if they wanted to kill him or not. It was where they kept the worst of the worst. Apparently if they felt like they would never get more than six. Or maybe if they got more than six, they just killed them all and started over. Either way, Sasuke was there again. This time with a mission.

The discomfort seemed fitting, he deserved it. He deserved worse, but they were giving him a chance. They had given him so many over the years. Sakura had tried as he left the village, Naruto had tried at the waterfall, and Kakashi had tried at the bridge. They tried and tried, but he had been so addicted to his anger for so long he couldn't see them for what they were; his only friends, the only people that cared about him._ 'I fucked up everything...'_

A rustling from the cell across and one door down plucked the Uchiha from his self-destructive thoughts. The big man he knew was named Kanta hadn't said anything to him since he had been tossed into the interrogation cells yesterday, but he had looked. He was curious. Sasuke wouldn't make the first move. He didn't want to make the man wary. He would wait. Waiting is all he could do.

'Why'd they throw you down here?" A soft squeaky voice called out to him a few hours later.

Sasuke pinched his brows together looking around; he thought Kanta was the only other person down here. Why didn't Tsunade tell him there was a woman down here? He glanced toward Kanta's cell, surprised to see the one-armed rogue staring at him expectantly. "Hnnn?" Was the only thing he could think to say. He wasn't sure who it was talking to him.

"Why're you down here?" Kanta asked, peering through the narrow bars on the top half of the door to his cell. He could only just barely make out the side profile of the guy in the cell across from him; he was leaning too far back. "Man they kicked the shit outta you yesterday ..."

Sasuke bit back his shock. _'He sounds just like a girl...' _He stood and mirrored the other man's position on the door, getting a good look at him. He didn't appear to be much better off than Sasuke. Old bruises mixed with new on his big, blocky face. It seemed he hadn't made friends with the guards during his weeks at Konoha's resort of Question and Answer. "..Only because I have on five of these..." He held up his wrist to show Kanta the chakra reducer.

Kanta nodded his head in steady approval. "Nice... I only got three..." he raised his own wrist to prove it. "Those assholes wouldn't be so heavy handed if I didn't have these on."

"Maybe..." Sasuke shrugged looking toward the door the guards stood behind twenty-four hours a day. The guards would treat him like guards treated prisoners if they got caught talking too much. Tsunade had kept his little mission very hushed. Using a traitor to glean information from a rogue wasn't exactly Konoha policy. It would be frowned upon if word got out.

"You think I'm lying?"

"I don't care..."

"Who are you...?" Kanta asked again.

"Sasuke Uchiha..."

"...I heard you were here somewhere..."

"...Who told you that?" Sasuke turned away from the guard and looked at the giant soprano.

Kanta shrugged. "Can't remember...why are you down here now?"

"They were asking me questions that I didn't feel like answering." Sasuke continued in his bored pompous tone. It was easy. He had done it for years.

"They do that a lot here..." Kanta stepped closer to the door, gripping the bar with one hand.

"...Did they do that?" Sasuke nodded, staring at the space where the big man's arm use to be. He knew what happened. He had been told by at least three people. He just wanted Kanta to open up.

Kanta scoffed. "No...this little fuckin' bitch did..." he shook his head. "Can you believe that shit? Some little soft pink cunt tore my fucking arm off...I thought she was..."He shrugged, it was almost comical considering his handicap, but Sasuke didn't laugh."...a lot more dead than that...I guess I made a mistake."

Sasuke felt a mixture of protectiveness, mingled with guilt pass through him as the man insulted Sakura. It caused him clench his jaw tightly. 'I_ called her much worse and to her face...'_ "_Why-"_

The door slammed open down the hall and the guard poked his head in. "You guys shut the fuck up in there! This isn't a party Uchiha! Shut the fuck up or I'll come in there and make you..." The door slowly swung shut, but not before Sasuke heard the guard mutter. "Stuck up little bitch…"

The sharingan user sighed and let his eyes slip back over to Kanta, who just shook his head and moved to sit back down. _' Idiot...This would be a lot easier if Tsunade would just tell the guards..' _ He understood why she didn't though.

It was going to be a pain in the ass, but he would get this man to talk. Get Kanta to bring him in and share his stories and his plots. He wanted to help, however he could. He wanted to be a part of the only good thing he had ever done in life again. It was the only thing that made him proud. The only thing that was worth anything. The thing that he had fucked up so many years ago. The thing he wanted back, but knew he could never have.

He looked toward the back wall, where Sai's pictures would being hanging in his old cell. He could still see it in his mind. He could still see the images of himself, Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura and Sai all standing together. He missed how Naruto would come to his cell and greet him like a brother, like nothing had ever gone so wrong. He missed how Sai would sit and ask him uncomfortable questions and urge him to talk about his past, but Sai was dead and he never would ask questions again. He missed Sakura and Kakashi, even though they never came to see him and they probably only thought of him when they remembered of all the years they wasted on him. He thought about them all the time. He missed them, but he could never say it out loud. So he would try to do this for them and hope one day they would understand how he felt.

* * *

"Ugh..that's not true!" Sakura scoffed with a smile as she and Kakashi strolled toward the training ground.

Kakashi shrugged and held his hands up helplessly, laughing at his medics face. "I'm telling you, he blushed. Shikamaru likes you...he was trying to ask about you this morning, it was really...uncomfortable. I told him to ask you out after the mission."

"Oh Gods Kakashi!" Sakura slumped. "Why did you do that..?"

"Uhh... he started me to take off my mask. I panicked. I think he was jealous that I showed you my face. You know how all your boyfriends get jealous..." The masked man gave a small teasing smile._ 'How did I not realize this before? Why did I almost have to lose her to see what she is to me?'_ It was cathartic and invigorating, talking with her again like this. Things had been so different for so long.

The medic rolled her eyes. "_All _my boyfriends..."

"You've had a lot..." he cocked his head to stare down at her pointedly.

"I've had like four...and the longest one only lasted...what...five or six months?" She tried to remember.

"Hnn...seems like more than that-" He muttered, doing his best to annoy her.

"Maybe Shika has a crush on you and that's why he wanted to see your face and **that's** why he blushed." Sakura raised her brows and bumped him with her shoulder. She wanted to stay pressed against his side, but she couldn't. This was Suna; practically everyone in the village knew either her or Kakashi.

"I _have_ been told I'm irresistible..." Kakashi nodded in fake seriousness.

"By who? The dogs? I believe it. You do smell sometimes." She joked

"Sakura..." Kakashi shook his head and scolded her jokingly. "...You'll hurt my feelings.."

"You deserve it...** you're** the one that said I had a lot of ..._boyfriends_..." She whispered the last word so quietly the silver-haired man could hardly make it out.

"You did..." he shrugged pulling his copy of Icha Icha out of his pocket. Phase two in his 'quickest-way-to-annoy-Sakura-plan.'

"I had the **normal** amount." She frowned and reached out quickly to try to grab the book from his hand.

"Well, I** smell **the normal amount." He turned slightly to block her attempt at book thievery.

He was deliberately trying to annoy her. She had missed this so much. The easy banter they could carry on for hours at a time, the joy she got just from being around him and teasing him. '_Why couldn't I see this before?' _ She scoffed and rolled her eyes as he kept reading and walking next to her. "You don't do **anything **normally..."

Kakashi spared a glance over his book and absorbed the offended look on Sakura's face.

'_There it is... that's the look...you're a sick man Hatake.'_ He loved that look. The way her forehead wrinkled and her mouth pressed together in a tight line. He loved to cause it and he loved to take it away. "I don't...?" He caught her gaze and let the innuendo hang between them.

Sakura eye's went wide and slammed to the ground as she smothered an absurdly large smile. She could feel her face beginning to heat up. '_Oh great...blush again...that will make it better.' _It only got worse when she felt his hand ruffle her hair lightly and slide down her back, staying for a few seconds longer than it needed.

She covered her mouth to hide her awkward laugh. Her heart racing in her chest as they covertly discussed their sexual encounter in the middle of Suna's busy streets. "No...that wasn't normal at all, it was... above average..." She was going to die from humiliation.

Pride and Reason squared off in Kakashi's brain as his medic bashfully commented him on his abilities in the bed. Pride wanted him to pick her up, drag her back to the room and raise his score to _'way'_ above average. Reason thought that it probably wasn't a good idea and maybe he should just return the compliment, or say something equally nice. Reason won this battle. Pride sat back on the bench and waited for its chance to strike.

As they rounded the corner Sakura felt Kakashi lean in towards her slightly. "So were you."

* * *

The ninken were overjoyed to be visited by Sakura. She was their favorite not-kakashi-human. She always brought them stuff to eat. When they gave her sad eyes because she had nothing to offer in homage to their hungry stomachs, she turned her own sad eyes on the masked man beside her. He frowned down at his half eaten food, frowned at Sakura, frowned at the dogs, frowned back at the food and handed it over to her. The wagging tails and bright smile he received was a fair enough payment for losing his breakfast in the morning.

They lounged, spoke about the mission, and sparred together. They shared lingering touches, held gazes and whispered soft comments no-one else could hear. It was all they dared to do in the presence of the Suna shinobi that had been near them that evening on the training grounds.

After being coerced by Kakashi in to one last sparring match, with Ninken allies of their choice, they both dropped down on the prickly dried up grass. Night had collapsed around them, and the hours had gone by faster than either of them wanted. The training fields had all emptied, except for the two leaf ninja and their pack of hounds.

"Guys, go fight. You can be loud this time..." Kakashi waved the panting, hovering dogs away. He wanted to talk to Sakura and he didn't want to be overheard, or have the dogs staring at them while he did it. He was uneasy enough about this. He didn't need a crowd watching him.

"Yeah boss." Was echoed around as the pack padded a few feet away and began wrestling with each other. All of them growling, barking and snarling in fun. They were never permitted to be loud on missions, or in training. This was awesome.

"Sakura." Kakashi shifted to his side and propped his head up on his elbow to watch her.

The medic lay back with her hands behind her head, staring up at the stars quietly. When she heard her Jounin call her name she simulated his posture and stared at him with a questioning gaze. She was scared to speak; she didn't want to ruin the moment. They had so much fun tonight, but she could feel the weight of reality crashing back on them. "What..?" She whispered.

Kakashi gave the tiniest hint of a shrug. "Are you ok? With ...what we're doing?" He refused to meet her eyes and instead toyed with the crunchy grass under his fingers. He wanted her to say yes, and he wanted her to say no. This would cause them both a world of problems if anyone found out. Was it worth the risk?

Sakura bit her lip and watched his fingers splay across the grass in the silvery moonlight. Her stomach dropped low into her stomach with worry "I'm not ok with it, we're lying to everyone. It's all I can think about sometimes."

Kakashi held his breath; his chest felt heavy and pulled down in the wake of her answer. She regretted everything. His distress bled into his words as he responded to her quietly. "I'm sorry Sakura. I shouldn't have-"

"But...I can't..." She reached out and grabbed his hand that was plucking distractingly at the grass. He didn't understand. "...it doesn't feel wrong does it..?"

The copy-ninja shook his head and stared at their joined hands as relief melted his apprehension. "No." He looked up to meet her gaze. "It doesn't..." He released her hand and leaned forward to brush a renegade piece of hair from her dirty face, his thumb lightly tracing the faint scars by her eye.

"So what do we do?" She laughed in nervousness "Go rogue and run?" She shook her head looking up toward the sky for an answer.

"We'll figure it out..." was the only answer he had for her. They both knew they wouldn't run. They were Shinobi of Konoha, she was the Hokage's apprentice, and he was the Copy-Ninja. They were team seven. Too much depended on them, they couldn't just give in to something as selfish as running away. "Maybe we can talk to Tsunade when we get back."

Sakura winced at the idea. "She'll kill you Kakashi...and be so disappointed in me. And Naruto, what would we tell him?"

Kakashi sighed deeply. It was a heavy burden to lie to your closest friends. Naruto was like a brother to him now. A little, goofy, hungry, incredibly powerful little brother, that was very protective over Sakura. A brother that trusted him to look after their brave little medic. A brother that trusted him to defend the team like a team leader should. Not to rip her clothes off, bury himself in her and throw away team-seven like yesterday's trash. No, Naruto would not understand. "...I don't know."

"And everyone...you know what everyone will say...what they will all think..." She added urgently. He knew what they would say and what they would think.

"That I've been taking advantage of you since you were my student? That I manipulated you. That I used you and persuaded you. That we've been lying to everyone for years..." He tried to force a smile.

She nodded. "That I'm a slut that climbs the ranks on my back." She forced a fake smile as well. Everyone was suspicious of her relationship with Kakashi. Ino, Tenten and even Tsunade questioned her about her obvious closeness to her team leader. She had brushed it all off as normal gossip. They had seen something she had not. The suspicions and rumors were all true.

"No, you're not...I don't like sluts." He traced his finger down her cheek and along her neck. His eye devouring the way she closed her eyes and tilted her head to allow his finger to move farther down to the line of her collar-bone.

She smirked but didn't move a muscle, as his finger lit a line of fire along her neck. "...Are you sure? I'm pretty sure that icha icha is full of them."

"No." he whispered humbly. "It's full of beautiful women and men who can't understand how lucky they are to have them..."

Sakura's miserable smile faltered. "...And how do the stories usually end..?" She asked in a worried whisper, desperate for the answer she wanted to hear, but knowing that she knew he wouldn't give it. Kakashi wouldn't lie to her.

"It depends on the story, they're always different..." He held her hopeless gaze until a sharp yelp grabbed his attention. He looked his shoulder to the chaotic dog pile and up to the dark sky.

"We need to go..." She echoed his thoughts.

"Yeah..." He stood up and held his hand out to pull her up beside him.

She tucked her hair behind her ear and looked up at her masked man taking his hand with a nervous grin. "Are you going to be up with Shikamaru all night again?"

Kakashi shook his head. "No...why?"

"Um...I can leave my window..." She felt just like the slut he said she wasn't. It was horrible.

Understanding dawned on him. "No, not your room...Naruto and Hinata..." He grimaced. "I'd feel like I was having a competition..." He ran a hand through his hair and laughed nervously. Was she really inviting him to her room? The idea was still so new it made him feel odd. Also it was turning him on.

"Oh..." Sakura deflated. She wanted him to hold her like he had that night in the fireworks. She wanted to feel him all around her, in her, kissing her. The memories caused hot tug in her stomach that intensified her desire, and that in turn only sharpened her disappointment.

He couldn't control the smile that grabbed him at the sight of her turmoil. She was upset she wouldn't see him. The thought flooded him with that fuzzy warm feeling he had always heard about. "I always leave my window open though, just to see if any perverts come in."

She threw her hand over her mouth to stifle her burst of laughter as they began walking back to the hotel. "You wait for perverts to come in your room?" She asked skeptically

"...Well really it's only one certain pervert I wait for…" He gave his eye crinkled grin. He was always smiling around her. He was infected with her and that seemed to be a side effect.

* * *

_Knock Knock Knock_

Shikamaru was snatched from a wonderful dream. He turned his eyes toward the door and then to the clock; it was eleven. Somehow his tiny nap had turned into a five hour dream where he lived on an island, laid in a hammock, watched the ocean, clouds and the occasional naked native woman pass in front of his eyes. The only unpleasant part of the dream was the fact that his dream-self thought he was stuck in a genjutsu the whole time and kept trying to break it. _'First good dream I have in months and I don't even believe it...what a pain.'_

His lock tumbled, but he still refused to get up.

Kakashi peered around the door at him. "ooh sorry did I wake you up?" He wasn't sorry. A tiny twinge of spite was being satisfied by disrupting the tacticians sleep.

The shadow-user grimaced and pushed himself up on his elbows looking at the copy-ninjas happy eye crease. _'He knows he woke me up and he doesn't look sorry about it at all.'_

"Do you have the notebook? I'd thought I'd look again." The copy-ninja stepped farther into the room, glancing at the neat pile of unopened books on the bed.

Shikamaru followed Kakashi's gaze to the books. _'I didn't even look at any of them.' _He lifted the replicated notebook and held it out to the sharingan wielder.

"Thanks Shikamaru...goodnight."

Shikamaru frowned and fell back in the bed as the door clicked shut behind Kakashi. _'Maybe since I haven't gotten up or said anything, I can fall back to sleep and keep having that dream...probably not...and.. Kakashi didn't lock the door.' _He sighed dejectedly and forced himself up again. He had to lock the door. He had to. He pulled his feet across the floor, peeked out of the peep-hole for no reason, confirmed he had no reason to peek out of the peep-hole, and locked the door. Objective nullified.

He turned to look at the books on the bed and immediately felt overwhelmingly tired._ 'I need to wake up...' _He had two options; shower, or get coffee. He looked down at himself. '_When was the last time I took a shower?...A few days ago?'_ If he was going to leave his room, he would have to take a shower. His mother didn't raise a slob, she always said so. _'Shower...then coffee...then books...'_

After a scalding hot shower the shadow user pulled on a pair of grey sweats and his standard issue black shirt. He wrestled his hair in to its usual ponytail._ ' I should just cut it off...and then Ino would stop trying to rip my hair out every time I turn around...' _He left the room and trudged down the hall barefoot. He paused at Sakura's door and heard the shower going. '_Nope..not interrupting that..' _ He paused at Naruto's door and heard Hinata laughing softly. _'Nope...not interrupting that...' _ He paused at Kakashi's door and heard nothing.

He knocked.

The copy-ninja pulled his door open quickly with baffled stare. "Yoo Shikamaru...I thought you were asleep."

Shikamaru shrugged. "Not anymore. I'm going to look over the books and get some coffee...you want some?"

"That's alright. It's late I'm going to look over this last book and then go to sleep. You should too." Kakashi glanced down the hall. "Everyone else asleep?"

He glanced down toward the other doors too. _'I could say I stood outside Sakura's door and listened to her in the shower and that I might have heard Naruto and Hinata having sex, but didn't really want to find out.'_ He could have said that, but he didn't. "Yeah I think so..."

"Ahh Ok then, see you in the morning Shikamaru, get some sleep." Kakashi nodded good night and shut the door.

The Nara turned from the door and continued his shoeless trek to the lounge where he got a giant coffee. He returned to his room, sat at his table and opened the first book he grabbed.

When they returned from the training fields, the copy-ninja couldn't figure out what to do with his time. He had invited Sakura over, but they hadn't actually discussed it any farther. He wasn't sure if she would come or not. He was going to eat his food, but then remembered he gave it to the dogs. So he tried to clean up the small room, but mostly just piled all the books in a corner. He thought he would have better luck just cleaning himself up instead, so he took a shower and succeeded without fail. One out of three wasn't that bad.

With a sigh of defeat he strolled over to Shikamaru's door, woke him up and took the Notebook that had been causing so much strife. He hated that stupid little notebook, but he needed it right now to keep him occupied.

At almost midnight he had nearly jumped out of his skin when someone knocked on his door. He thought Sakura had lost her mind. Turns out Shikamaru had lost his. After refusing the tactician's strange offer of midnight coffee and learning everyone was asleep, the copy ninja returned to his bed disappointed._ 'Of course she's not going to sneak into your room in the middle of the night Hatake, this isn't Icha Icha.'_

* * *

The medic stared up at the open window of Kakashi's room. She felt slightly degraded that she was being forced to go to his room, but what choice did she have. She wanted to see him tonight and she didn't dare traipse down the hallway and knock on his door. '_Stupid Naruto and Hinata…' _ She scoffed. She heard them from the other side of the wall after she had gotten out of the shower, this was their fault. It was almost one in the morning now, no-one was around. She sighed, swallowed her pride and made her way to his window. _'I bet this happens in Icha Icha...'_

At fifteen minutes till one the masked man he peered over the top of his book to see his medic ducking in his window and pulling the curtains closed behind her. She completely looked mortified with herself. She looked incredible.

"...That window happens to only be for perverts..." he snapped his book shut.

Sakura graced him with a meek, joking smile and turned back to the curtains. "Sorry, wrong window..."

The sight of her in his room with her hair still damp from the shower and her smell drifting toward him woke all his senses. The thought of her coming here for him was already kindling his desire. He stood up and took the few steps he needed to get to her, one of his hands sliding around her waist and the other pulling her arm away from the curtain. 'No...I think this is the right window." He pressed his masked lips to the side of her neck, inhaling deeply. "I love that shampoo..."

She turned in his grip and put her arms around his neck. "You always make fun of it..." She wrinkled her nose at him as she tugged his mask down off his face. She hadn't seen his face in days. He was still a lopsided dufus. He was perfect.

"Do I?" He smiled as he leaned forward to press his lips to hers delicately, pulling her toward the bed with him slowly.

"Yes." She answered breathlessly. Her mouth parted easily under his. He tasted just like she remembered. He felt just as warm and inviting as she remembered. She dropped down to his lap, her legs on either side of him, as he hit the side of the bed and sat down. She sighed into his mouth as his hands drifted up at her sides.

"Sorry, I like making fun of you..." He muttered lowly as he pressed his lips in a fevered trail below her ear, one of her hands snaking up his neck to run through his hair.

"I know you do." She tugged lightly on his hair to bring his mouth back to hers. Lust had crushed her modesty in to a tiny pile of smoldering useless ash as soon as he put his arms around her. She wanted him. Her body was singing with pleasure from his every touch. She pressed into him, her tongue slipping into his mouth to take control.

He bit back a groan as she ground her hips against him. He hadn't meant for it to go like this. "Sakura." he rasped. "We don't have to..." He pulled back from her lips to look at her. He didn't want her to think this is all he wanted. He didn't want to make her feel guilty. He already made her sneak in his window; he didn't want her to feel like a whore for him too.

"I want to..." She added action to her words as she reached down to pull her shirt off quickly and tossed it to the ground. She reached her hand to his face as he watched her in stunned silence. "You shaved..." She smiled slightly as her fingers trailed along his jaw.

He returned her grin with his own. "So did you…" He ran his hand up her calf to high on her thigh.

She laughed and laid her lips to his smile, immersing herself in the way his rough hands ran so softly over her back. She put a hand out to support herself on the bed as he lay back under her. He toyed with the clasp on her bra for a second before figuring it out and releasing it. She flung it to the side, forgotten, as he lifted his head to press his mouth to her breasts, his tongue and teeth scraping against the soft flesh tenderly. The gentle touches causing her to lean into him, biting her lip as need surged through her.

He helped her as she pulled at his shirt and tugged it, along with his mask off. Her mouth slanted over his in a surprisingly dominant way as soon as the clothing was removed. He wasn't sure why he was surprised, it was Sakura after all. She was kind and caring, but also stubborn and proud. She didn't have a problem taking what she wanted if she thought it would be ok. This wouldn't be any different. His hands caressed as much of her as he could get to as she rocked her hips into his rhythmically. The friction of the movement causing him to make an effort to suppress the moans that threatened to escape his throat.

The soft noises of pleasure that she elicited from him sent her stomach spiraling and she wanted to hear more. The tight ache between her legs craved to be satisfied, but she wanted to make him feel as good as he made her feel first. She reached for the buckle of his pants, undoing them and pulling them down and off. She dropped her mouth to his chest, her lips dancing across the hard muscles and over the scars of imperfection that crisscrossed his skin.

Kakashi felt overwhelmed. She was all over him, everywhere and going lower. He didn't want her to stop but he felt obligated to do something. She had snuck out of her room, climbed through his window and now she was doing this. "Sakura...you don't-" he was cut off as her teeth scraped against the scar on his hip.

"I know, I want to…Kakashi...it's ok" She reassured the worried man with a smile. She wasn't typically this bold after only being with someone once, but their time was limited and she wanted to make him happy. She dropped lower and took him in her hand and pressed a small kiss to his hard erection before taking him in her mouth. Her tongue swept over him and her lips hugged him softly as she moved slowly up and down. One of his hands tangling gently in her hair, urging her actions with restrained desire.

He gasped sharply and clutched at the sheets on the bed; eyes squeezed shut as she brought his world to a standstill with her mouth. The slow, warm, intense feeling was all he could think about. He groaned in anguished desperation as she took him dangerously close to his climax again and again. He didn't want it to be over, not yet. He let go of her hair and put both his hands on her face, dragging her up to him, his lips crashing against hers. His body pulsed with unmet promises of euphoria as he yanked her pants down, and she stepped out of them.

She followed his lead as he scooted back on the bed under her, his hands on her hips pulling her after him. She moaned softly as his fingers slid in between her legs, slow circles causing her eyes to shut and her body to rock into his touch. She needed more of him, it wasn't enough. When she met his eyes and muttered his name softly he understood completely, his own passion driving him to the same conclusion.

He held himself with one hand, his other on her waist to guide her down on top of him. The moment she dropped down on him slowly, the world became much smaller. It was only the silver-haired man, the pink haired woman and the space between them. "Gods Sakura..."He couldn't find the words he wanted to use for how she looked, how she was making him feel and how he felt about her.

Sakura moved slowly against him, her hands braced on his chest, his hands back on her hips to help her endeavors as she fell into the rhythm that worked best. As she became more comfortable with the way he filled her, and the movements, one of his hands again slipped into the soft sensitive folds between her legs. His fingers stroked and skimmed against her as she moved and slid against him.

She bit her lip to muffle her cries as she circled the drain on her passion. The heat in her core plunged to the area where their bodies joined. The way he groaned every time she dropped down on him. The expression of sweet agony on his face and the soft way his fingers felt against her were all coming together. It coiled deep inside of her and broke free.

Kakashi was only seconds behind. Her body clenched him tightly; her fingers dug into his chest as she was swarmed with bliss and panted his name. It was too much. He arched into her, both his hands on her waist as he pushed himself deep again and again. His muscles tense and tight as he pulled her down on him one last time, his fingers holding her to him forcefully as he groaned her name and filled her.

She tipped forward on his breathless chest, his arms sliding around her back easily as the world slowly expanded from the tiny plane of existence it had just been.

"Told you only perverts come in that window..." Kakashi smiled after a minute as he brushed her hair behind her ear and pressed a soft kiss to her temple.

Sakura laughed into his chest, snorting slightly, which only caused Kakashi to laugh under her. Both of them were still too high on each other to care. "I think that window **makes** people perverts." She finally managed to croak through her laughter, not believing how intense things had gotten between them as soon as she ducked through the 'pervert window' into his room.

"Don't blame the window." He pulled her closer to him, his chest fit to burst with contentment. Pride jumped off the bench and leapt on its chance to strike. "So...was that...above average too?"

Sakura snorted again and rolled her eyes at her copy-ninja. "Yes it was...very above..."

Pride smiled smugly. Mission Accomplished.

* * *

Shikamaru flipped through the pages of the second book in frustration and paused on a page halfway through. It was the same dialect he had seen before in other books, it looked so similar but it was off, it wasn't right. Something was wrong._ 'Maybe the copy-ninja copied it wrong...'_ He scowled and stood up to stretch.

He snatched the book off the table, ready to take it over to his bed. No, he just spilled the coffee everywhere. "Shiiiitt..." He yanked the book out of the puddle of coffee and dropped it on the floor, grabbing napkins to soak up his mess. _'Why did I get such a big coffee...and I didn't even drink half of it...and I'm still tired...and I didn't' find anything...what a pain.'_

He scooped his sloppy, dripping mess into the trash can beside the table and turned to go to bed. He stepped right in the middle of the book on the floor, and frowned, looking down at it. His eyes narrowed at the text and he turned his head slightly and narrowed his eyes more. He walked around to the other side of the book and stared some more. "...You can't be serious..."

He picked up the book from the new angle and scanned over it. It was serious. It was staring them in the face the whole time, laughing at how stupid they all were. It was that serious, and they were that stupid.

His heart swelled in elation as he gripped the book tightly and he headed toward the door at a jog. He needed to make sure. He slid to a stop in front of Kakashi's door. Sakura, Naruto and Hinata's lights were all off, but the diligent and studious copy-ninja still seemed to be up. He reached for the door and paused. '_Oh well he woke me up earlier...he deserves it if I wake him up for no reason..."_ But he knew there was a reason, he had their answer in his hand.

He snatched the doorknob_ 'not locked...very secure Kakashi...' _and opened the door staring down at the book again. "Kakashi, I think I just-" He forgot what it was he needed to say as he glanced up to the Copy-ninja and the guest he had in his lap.

'_...'_ Shikamaru's mind went blank for the first time in years.

* * *

**A/N**

_Everyone bow to RoxanneN for helping me out with this chap...since you're probably sitting down, a nice nod of the head will do also. Thank you._

_So this was a tinsy bit later than I expected it to be. Sorry 'bout that. Life got in the way. Scoff at life with me. Scoff._

_I have a surprise! There is a side shot of this story I'm putting out called 'The Road to Hell' ooo sounds happy uh? Lol_

_About The Road to Hell ::It's not KakaxSaku...sorry. It's also not romancey..sorry again..but I couldn't get this out of my head..and it didn't make sense to put it in this story, at least not as much detail as I wanted... So I put it on its own. Check it out if you want. It does open up the door on some questions you may have about Inside The Fire_.


	19. Heat of the moment

_**Heat of the moment**_

* * *

Several things happened simultaneously when the door popped open and the unwanted shadow-slinging intruder lifted his eyes to the chaotic scene of scrambling nudity unfolding on the copy-ninja's bed.

One of Sakura's hands immediately went to her chest to cover herself. The other hand jumped to the side of her face in a desperate attempt to hide her identity. She flattened herself against Kakashi. Her blood was racing through her system, trying to find a better option. Where else could she go?

Kakashi, at the same time as his medic tried to sink into him and disappear, had grabbed the blankets that had lay previously unused underneath them and, in one swift motion, rotated everything. He yanked the blankets over his back as he pulled his cringing medic underneath him with the other hand. He braced his arm against the side of her head, trying to shield her from the tactician's sharp gaze. His brain screamed for action. Shikamaru had just turned into an enemy with compromising information; he needed to be dealt with.

Shikamaru stood in a desert of information and searched for the water of ignorance. It was no easy task for the man who missed nothing. He watched the spectacle of breasts, sheets and attempts at hiding in shocked silence. He knew he was in the right room; he checked the number and the books were everywhere, alongside all the clothes on the floor. His brain was grinding its gears against the blockade astonishment that had brought it to a halt. It wanted to start up again.

The shadow-user closed his eyes and did the only thing he could think of. The only thing he would allow his mind to process. He turned around, walked out the, shut it quietly behind him, walked silently down the hall to his room, shut that door, locked it and sat down on the edge of his bed. With a deep, extremely annoyed sigh, he released the brake and allowed the wheels in his brain to start spinning.

'_..So I was right the whole time...' _The surge of warmth he usually got from correctly identifying a problem was notably absent.

"Sakura, it's ok. It's going to be ok." Kakashi consoled the distraught woman under him, softly brushing away a panicked tear from her eye. His own body felt on the verge of trembling along with her as the adrenaline washed through him like a flooded torrent. His stomach was a boulder, he could feel his pulse squeezing his brain and he could hear his brain telling him that now was a good time to run if he ever wanted to do it. He needed to think clearly. What were their options? "I'm sorry Sakura. I didn't re-lock the door earlier...I'm sorry."

"G-Gods Ka-kakashi, he saw us. He saw. He knows." Her words were muffled by her hands that she still had clasped over her mouth. She shook her head in terror at what had just happened. A cold sweat not at all related to her previous physical activity was breaking out over her body. Her gut was threatening her that if she didn't calm down soon, it would make her throw up, and it wasn't kidding at all. Her life was ruined. His life was ruined. It was happening. It was all falling apart. Her heart was thudding in a frantic panic. The warmth of her Jounin's body pressed against her offered none of the comfort it had earlier. "What are we going to do?"

"I'll go talk to him." He moved off her, grabbing his pants from the floor and pulling them on.

"No. Kakashi don't..." Sakura reached up and grabbed his arm; her pulse so thick and heavy it seemed like it would choke her. "I...I just…please..." She didn't know what she wanted. She wanted him to go and fix it, but how could he? It was too late.

He leaned down and kissed her softly on the head. "It's Shikamaru...It'll be fine. I'll make him understand." He forced a smile.

"It's Shikamaru..." She whispered desperately, ignoring his lopsided attempts at making her feel better. "That's the problem." The Nara was not known for his ability to overlook even the most trivial of issues. He played by the rules; he loved the rule book. He probably had written one himself. Generally it wasn't an issue. Right now, it was definitely something to take into the calculations. "He won't understand Kakashi."

"Sakura, I'll explain...he'll understand." He had no idea how to make his teammate understand. How could he understand? There was nothing to understand. They were wrong, they had messed up and they shouldn't be doing this. But he had to go do something. Sitting around waiting for the axe to chop his and Sakura's heads off didn't seem like the best option. It was always worth a shot trying to bargain with your executioner.

The copy-ninja buttoned his pants and gave his pink-haired medic one last look before leaving. If he didn't go now, he might just decide it was a better idea just to stay here with her and pretend this never happened.

Sakura sat in silence, staring around the room and clutching the blankets to her chest as she tried to calm herself enough to get dressed. This wasn't the where she needed to be right now. She did not need to be naked in her team-leader's bed. She closed her eyes, inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. _'Shikamaru is our friend, he's known us for years. He will understand...'_ Lying to yourself wasn't half as easy as people made it out to be.

* * *

Kakashi tapped a single finger lightly on Shikamaru's door twice, attempting to maintain the silence that had permeated the hallway their team was staying in. The headache he had been trying to ignore was screaming at him; demanding to be acknowledged.

Shikamaru eyed the door from his seat on the edge of the bed. He still had yet to gain control over his brain; it was stampeding around and refusing to travel in a straight line. _'That was Sakura...they are sleeping together...nope they were not sleeping at all... They have been lying the whole time. Did it just happen? Has it been happening? He's her squad leader, they know this is wrong. What are they doing? Why are they doing it? Does Naruto know?...no...he doesn't know...if he did there would be a city block missing...or maybe an entire town...What do I do? I'm suppose to report any derelictions of duty immediately...'_ This was definitely something, someone, somewhere, would want to hear about.

The tiny tap came again. Apparently Kakashi had enough of barging in doors for that evening. Well, at least he had learned his lesson. Payback was a bitch and so was karma. It seemed they both had an agenda with the copy-ninja tonight.

"Shikamaru...I know you're in there." Kakashi called quietly as his head dropped against the door. '_He's going to report us...'_

The shadow-user frowned at the door. He wasn't prepared to deal with this just yet. He didn't know what course of action to take. He needed time to think. "Go away Kakashi."

"I can't." he sounded worn out and defeated.

"Why not?" He really wanted to be alone.

"I need to talk to you."

"About what?" Shikamaru scoffed and stood to stare at the door. He knew what the copy-ninja wanted to talk about. He just didn't want to talk about it until he had decided the best route to take._ 'If I see him and hear him try to explain, try to reason with me...it's going to make this harder.' _

Kakashi sighed. '_What else would I have to talk to him about right after he caught me and Sakura in bed together?'_ "Shikamaru...I don't want to talk to the door about this." His headache tromped around with glee, causing him to wince.

Shikamaru felt just fine talking to the door, but gave in and nodded his head anyway, which Kakashi couldn't see. So then he had to speak up. "Just go ahead and open it."

Kakashi's fingers made light work of the lock and he slipped into the room awkwardly, closing it shut behind him. He rubbed at his temples to try to ease some of the tension behind them. He only seemed to be rubbing more in.

"Kakashi!" Shikamaru squeezed his eyes shut. The copy-nin was maskless. It was like seeing him naked all over again. Only worse for some reason. It was indecent and obscene.

"What?" The silver-haired man grimaced at the outburst, looked over his shoulder and then down at himself. He checked to see if there was an issue with his zipper. There wasn't. "What's wrong?"

"Your **face.**..I see it." Now without the mask he looked like a normal man; not the enigmatic sharingan wielder that sat up on a pedestal and could do no wrong. It was very disconcerting. The last twenty minutes of his life had being very disconcerting as a matter of fact.

"Oh, sorry...?" He had been too pumped up on his and Sakura's lives being expunged from the Shinobi ranks to remember his mask. His head hurt, his eyes hurt, he was tired and he was freaked out. Really Shikamaru should be happy he even had the presence of mind to put on pants. He knew he had on pants, he had just checked.

"It's fine." The Nara made a cutting motion with his hand through the air and shook his head to show he was completely done with the topic of the mask. It was too late; he had already seen his face. He could never un-see it. _'I wish I could un-see a lot of stuff...like how I'm pretty certain both of their carpets match their drapes now.'_ Shikamaru winced from the visual and sat back down on the bed.

Kakashi sat beside him, quietly staring at the wall, but not seeing it. "It wasn't what it seems like..." He knew how pathetic and cliché his excuse seemed.

"It seems like I caught you and Sakura breaching fraternization policy, in a way that is very specifically prohibited." He didn't want to do this; he could already feel his pulse climbing under the weight of weighing his teammate's lives against his responsibilities. _'He's my friend... so is she...but...'_

Well that was true and to the point. Kakashi reached for a line of defense. "I...It..." He couldn't grab it properly.

"I'm supposed to report this Kakashi. You know I have to." He stared at his hands. _'If I turn them in...it's going to be bad for them. If I don't, and someone finds out that I knew...it's going to be bad for me too.'_

"Please don't..." Kakashi almost whispered.

"Is this the only time it's happened?" He waited for the lie.

Kakashi considered lying. "...No..." but he hated lying to his friends. "If you report us, you'll ruin us Shikamaru."

"Don't blame this on me Kakashi. This is your fault. If I don't report you, and someone finds out I knew, I'll go down with you." Everything he worked for would be scrapped._ 'Rules are for following, rules keep everyone safe...people that break them endanger everyone else. They are jeopardizing the entire mission.'_

"Everyone looks past Naruto and Hinata." Kakashi tried to think of anything to make it seems better than it was.

Shikamaru shook his head. "Don't... You know it's different. They are only ever sent on diplomatic assignments together; never ever an actual mission. And even the diplomatic stuff gets refused most of the time, unless it's extremely important."

"We always put the mission first. We've been fine in Suna like this, nothing has happened. It's not an issue."

"Two civilians died in River and you both got caught by the enemy. Was it happening then?"

Kakashi thought back to the moments in Tani: the kiss, the fight, the jealously. The way his heart had nearly stopped when he watched Norio cut her and Ryota touch her. He nodded his head. "Yes...but it wasn't our fault."

"You were her sensei Kakashi! You know better!" He turned his eyes on the man beside him with a look of vexed disappointment.

"Not for years. I haven't been for years-"

"How long have you been doing this? Did she started it, or did you?" He interrupted Kakashi as he tried to discover who was at fault. He needed someone to be held ultimately responsible. Maybe he could save just one of them that way.

"What?" The unmasked man pulled back slightly as he followed where the Tactician's train of thought was heading. "No...this isn't that easy Shikamaru..." He shook his head which only caused his headache to cry out in exhilarated joy and stomp harder on his brain.

The Shadow-user's patience was wearing thin. "I know it's not that easy Kakashi! I just caught you having sex with Sakura! What were you thinking?!"

"I wasn't."

Shikamaru tossed his hands in the direction of team seven's squad leader and stood up to try to pace off his frustration. "That's the problem with this. You weren't thinking. You're both supposed to be loyal to Konoha and-"

'_When did my loyalty come into question?'_ Kakashi's eyes narrowed slightly. "I've always been loyal Shikamaru." He pointed in the direction he assumed Sakura was in. "And so is she." His tone held an edge of contempt.

The Nara turned and looked incredulously at the Jounin still sitting on the bed. "How can I believe that? You've been lying, sneaking around and breaking protocol...for how long?! You're her team leader and you're taking advantage of her... or she has somehow convinced you into-"

"That is enough. You need to stop right there." Kakashi voice turned cold as he stood up and leveled his gaze on the man that was coming dangerously close to pissing him off. The Nara could say whatever he wanted, but he wasn't going to insult his and Sakura's loyalty to Konoha, or insinuate that one of them was taking advantage over the other. It wasn't like that.

'_Is he joking...he's telling __**me **__to stop?'_ The room fell quiet for a few seconds as each man tried to decide which road to take in the conversation. Shikamaru was upset, disenchanted and very frustrated. Kakashi was worried, nervous and defensive. It wasn't going as either of them intended.

The strong grip the tactician usually held on his leashed emotions slipped slightly the more he analyzed Kakashi's little warning. It was rubbing him the wrong way. The dog of anger took advantage of the looser hold and latched on to the silver-haired Jounin "Don't you think you should have said that to yourself before you started screwing your own subordinate?" He accused darkly.

Kakashi's lips pressed into a tight line as he clenched his jaw. He tried to meet Shikamaru on middle ground of something that could both relate to. The situation was heading in a direction the copy-ninja didn't want to go. They were both getting very stirred up. "Shikamaru, it's not like that. Asuma would have-"

The mention of his long missed sensei completely missed the target Kakashi was going for and instead further infuriated Shikamaru. "Don't talk about him to me... Do you think he would have ever slept with Ino?! Do you think he would understand? What do you think he would have said Kakashi?!"

He stepped closer to Shikamaru as his own restraint began crumbling in the stressful circumstances._ 'He's going to ruin us and not even listen to anything we have to say. He is our teammate. My friend. Sakura's friend...and he doesn't fucking care.' _His body was running hot even with his lack of clothes. His heart was hammering against his chest. "**He** would have listened to me!"

"Because he **trusted** you and didn't think you would lie!"

"Because we werefriends!"

"He didn't know you were screwing-"

"_**He**_ would have let me **explain **Shikamaru!"

"There is no **fucking explanation** Kakashi!"

"You don't know that! You won't listen-"

"To your excuses!? You messed up at the** campsite** and people died. You messed up in **Tani** and people died. And now you're messing up here! What** happened** to you Kakashi!?"

Everything fell away for the copy-ninja when Shikamaru brought up his recent failures. He snapped. He stepped forward and shoved the dark-haired man into the door behind him; his forearm braced across his chest. "You have **no** idea what you're talking about..."

The aggressive maneuver caught the shadow-user off guard for a second as his back cracked into the door behind him. But only for a second. He swung wide with his arm to clip Kakashi in the side of the head, his other hand slipping behind him to open the door.

The copy ninja brushed off the blow with his arm easily, but was jerked forward when Shikamaru grabbed his wrist and threw him off balance out of the door. Their feet got tangled as they spun and spilled out into the hallway. The two leaf shinobi both bounced roughly off a wall as they tried to gain an advantage over the other.

It had gotten out of control for both of them. The situation had plummeted from an uncomfortable conversation to a sparring match within ten minutes. The frustrations they had toward each other, the failures on the mission and the stress; all of it had combined together and erupted into the physical combat they both didn't want, but couldn't bring themselves to stop.

The Shadow-user had escaped into the hall and had taken advantage of all the shadows the various light fixtures had provided. As Kakashi tried to force his fist down on Shikamaru's face again, it was stopped by a tight black shadow wrapping itself around his arm. Three seconds later he was yanked back by something hard that slipped around his neck, but not before Shikamaru thoughtfully gave him a strong kick in the ribs as a parting gift.

"_**What the fuck are you two doing!?" **_Naruto screamed as he yanked Kakashi off of Shikamaru by his neck, forced his team leader around and shoved him face first into the wall.

* * *

Sakura had dressed slowly, her hands shaking with nerves. _'Kakashi is going to try to explain this... I know Shikamaru won't listen. We could hardly convince him not to go question Emiko Sagawa.' _She needed a plan. Her plan was._ '...' _She hadn't come up with one yet. She usually thought best on her feet, but right now her feet were numb with shock. But she had gotten dressed and that was a step in the right direction.

Her fears came to life in a much bigger and scarier way then she could have ever imagined when the sounds of raised voices muffled their way through the walls. _'Oh Gods...what's going on?'_

She stepped out into the hall and shut the door quietly behind her; her heart in her throat as she hesitantly moved toward the voices that were gaining in volume. She passed Naruto's room and stopped as something large crashed into Shikamaru's door. She felt like she knew what was happening in that room and she wasn't sure what to do about it. _'This is all my fault.'_

"What's all that noise?"

She jumped in surprise as Naruto peeked out of his door, blinking in the light. Her mouth dropped open. "I don't-"

A second later his question was answered as Shikamaru's door swung open and the copy-ninja, who had no shirt or mask on, and the shadow-user tumbled out into the hall together. They were locked in a flurry of blocks, knees and punches. Both men were silent but for their breathing as they struggled for the upper hand.

A moment of sheer disbelief cascaded down on Naruto and Sakura as they watched the two men slam into the wall beside Sakura's door.

"Hinata!" Naruto called over his shoulder and jumped into action. If there was one thing you could count on, it was Naruto's ability to evaluate and act when it was truly needed. "Sakura, get Shikamaru!"

Naruto, in his shorts and a white shirt, manhandled Kakashi into a wall and was yelling in his ear to _**'calm-the-fuck-down'**_. It would have been amusing to see the hyperactive man telling someone else this in any other circumstance. Now was not that time.

Sakura's arms were coated with Chaka as she grabbed Shikamaru from behind. Her hands restrained and pulled him back from chasing after the copy-ninja in his blind rage. "Shikamaru. Please stop. Please, I'm sorry. It's my fault..." She urged quietly, hoping he would hear her.

The tactician's anger sizzled away as Sakura's heartfelt pleas infiltrated his logical side and her strength kept him from acting out. He closed his eyes, inhaled deeply and tried to relax. His mind that had been full of thoughts of outrage, betrayal and combat began to focus again. _'...I just got in a fight with Hatake Kakashi...I let my emotions get control...I should have never done that...It's been a long day...'_ He felt Sakura's hold loosen as he regained control over himself. He brought his hand up to his nose, winced, and pulled it away to smear the blood between his fingers._ 'Asshole broke my nose...well I guess it's only fair since I'm about to break his whole life apart...' _The thought left him feeling very hollow.

Hinata was standing beside the very displeased Naruto; her byakugan activated and ready to help subdue Kakashi if he tried to break free. But that didn't seem likely. He looked to Shikamaru like he had lost all his fight, his life, his hope and his pride. That only deepened the gaping hole of shame the shadow-user was experiencing in the pit of his stomach.

"We didn't plan for it to happen...it just did. We didn't mean for any of this. We tried to stop...you have to believe me..." Sakura whispered. Her voice cracked with the anxiety she was attempting to repress.

Shikamaru sighed deeply._ 'I do believe her...and Kakashi too...they're good people...' _That was the problem. "...Sakura...it can't happen. You know it can't..." He stared at his feet; his voice drowned out by Naruto's demands for Kakashi to explain himself.

"I can't stop."

"Why not?"

A single tear rolled down her cheek as she glanced over to the man beside her. She didn't know why she couldn't stop. Well maybe she did know, but she couldn't say it. Not out loud and not to anyone else. The implications were too much and it was too hard to deal with. It was impossible. You can't lose what you never admitted to having in the first place, right?

Shikamaru stared at the face of the pink-haired woman he had known forever. _'Shit...'_

"You need to explain to me what's going on before I contact Tsunade, tell her what just happened and have you sent back to Konoha tomorrow." Naruto scowled at his team leader. He pulled him around to look at him in the face, too angry to even contemplate the fact that he didn't have his mask on.

Kakashi felt like he was suffocating as he tried desperately to think of something to say. _'Just tell the truth Hatake...it's over...'_ He gestured pathetically toward Sakura, ready for the worst. "Shikamaru...he found-"

"I found the dialect we need to break the code in the notebook. Well I thought I did...but it was wrong and Kakashi actually found the right one. I got pissed off and...I wasn't thinking straight...and I wouldn't listen to him." Shikamaru locked eyes with Kakashi and cut him off before he could confess.

"You two started fighting because you found the answer?!" Naruto stared over at the man with the bloodied face beside Sakura.

"It got out of hand...I'm sorry." Kakashi croaked as he held Shikamaru's gaze. '_He's lying for us...why now?'_

"Why don't you have your mask or shirt on?" Naruto turned back as realization began to dawn on him and he stared openly at the face of his team leader for the first time ever.

"Uhh, I wasn't dressed when I found the code...and I just put on pants and ran over here to show him." Kakashi reached his hand up insecurely to cover the bottom part of his face as it was scrutinized.

"What were you doing with no clothes on?" Naruto gazed at him suspiciously.

"I uh-"

"He was taking a shower when the answer just came to him" Shikamaru offered.

"Yeah." Kakashi nodded in agreement.

"I always think best in the shower." Sakura added quietly to bolster their defense.

Naruto stepped back and rolled his eyes in exasperation. Why were his friends always so crazy? "Are you serious? What is wrong with you guys? Meeting room, now. Let's figure out that notebook now that we have something to go on." It was two in the morning, but they had something to go on. Might as well start.

* * *

"Yes Akihisa, I understand your concerns. I have them too, but this is just a temporary solution until Hinata and Sakura bring back the jutsu we need. They are working on it right now in Suna.

"Tsunade-sama. The Uchiha could be giving the enemy important information on Konoha." The senior Anbu captain stood at attention in front of the desk the Sanin worked at.

"Even so...who would he gives the information to? Do you think he's going to escape? Either of them? The benefits outweigh the risks."

"Tsunade-Sama, Misuki-san" Shizune entered the room with a frown and a handful of yellow papers. "I found more of these on my way in." She slipped the papers across the desk and waited with a worried expression.

The blonde woman slid one of the brightly colored papers closer and stared at it. "Where are these all coming from?" her voice was tingling with restrained fury.

Akihisa leaned forward to grab his own copy of the paper. "This is...uhhh...I'll put a few Anbu on the task to figure out who's doing it. Where did you get this Shizune-san?"

The dark-haired woman bit her lip. "They were all over the place this morning. This is the third type we have found. Genma found a different type in the bathrooms at a bar. Kurenai brought in some and said she found them scattered around the memorial stone."

"Damnit. I have enough to deal with without having to worry about some rebellious gennin pulling pranks like this." She started, drumming her fingers on the desk as she continued to stare at the paper. _Drumming, drumming, drumming. _

The harmless scrap of bright paper showed an image of Tsunade, a huge pile of Sake bottles next to her, asleep in a _**very **_unflattering position on a chair labeled 'Konoha'. At the bottom were the words 'Always ready.' It was the third so far, all with unflattering images and similar messages.

Sure it was funny; she even laughed at the first one. Then the second one showed up and it was less funny and more annoying. Now it was really getting under her skin. It was inappropriate, insubordinate and half the village was snickering at the papers, and by extension, her.

"I'll find out who's up to it. Probably just some little punks." Akihisa assured the Hokage.

"Thank you and I'll keep a close eye on Sasuke." Tsunade replied with a sigh.

The Anbu man nodded a goodbye to both woman and left quietly to begin his day.

"He found out about Sasuke?" Shizune asked as she sat across from her despondent friend.

"Yes and only two days later. He just said he was worried, nothing else. Not that I blame him. Sasuke isn't the most trustworthy person in the village. He asked if he could switch the guards for some of his own men."

"Are you going to let him?"

"No. I don't want anything to seem suspicious. I did tell him I would allow Neji to stand guard since he's already in the prison and he is high enough rank to look over 'The Six'."

"And he agreed?"

"Yes. I'm the Hokage. What I allow, I expect."

"Well, you know how they are...sometimes they forget a little bit and need to be reminded." Shizune forced an uncomfortable smile.

Tsunade stared at the yellow paper and her frown deepened. "Sometimes they forget a lot."

* * *

"So you really killed Itachi?" Kanta's falsetto whisper slipped through the bars and into Sasuke's ear.

"Yeah."

"Killed your own brother, that's some ruthless shit right there man."

Sasuke shrugged. He didn't want to talk about his brother again. "What about you?"

"Did I kill my brother? No I don't got one."

"You ever kill _anyone_?" He muttered in annoyance.

"Sure. They ain't keeping me down here because I'm too pretty. That might be why you're here though." Kanta grinned at how hilarious he was.

'_Idiot...' _Sasuke rolled his eyes and ignored the insult. "Why _are_ they keeping you down here? I've never even heard of you."

"You don't hear about the things your not suppose to."

He scoffed at the clandestine riddle. The one-armed man was full of them. "Like what things?"

Kanta skipped over the question easily. "Anyway, I'm down here because I got my arm ripped off and got caught by that copy-ninja, his dogs and all those Anbu guys when they were chasing us over the border."

"Who's us?" The Uchiha asked casually as he picked at the skin around one of his fingernails. Maybe this time he would get some real information out of the squeaky monster across from him.

"Some friends of mine. We were just meeting up to talk about the future..."

The sharingan user couldn't help the muffled laughter that escaped him. "Was this in your plans?"

"Shit no..." Kanta joined Sasuke's commiseration of their confined life with his tiny girlish giggle. "We were working on something; well they probably still are for all I know. Missing me ain't gunna stop that."

"What were you working on?" Sasuke went in for the kill and hoped he didn't miss his target.

"Ahh..." Kanta laughed again. "I'm sure you'll hear about it soon enough. Well...maybe not that soon, but it will give you something to look forward too."

Sasuke sighed. He missed again. This guy was annoying.

* * *

The tiny scrawl of foreign language stared at all five Konoha Shinobi with spite. They were so stupid. It had sat in front of them for two days before the pony-tailed klutz finally saw the truth. The copy-ninja had replicated the note-book perfectly. They were all just holding it wrong. They held it horizontally when it should have been vertical. The fools.

Tension in the room was reaching dangerously high levels. War was upon her. The sounds of pages being turned, notes being jotted down, the weird whistle in Naruto's nose; she could feel it all. Her senses were heightened. This was her challenge alone. A bead of sweat slipped off her temple and hit the table. The words on the paper were a fearsome enemy; of the likes she had never seen before. She would not be beaten by them. Not after all she had been through in her life. They would have to kill her first and she would not go quietly. Sakura's hand clenched tightly in defiance at the words on the paper. And her pen exploded.

Hinata flinched and closed her eyes as ink splattered against her face. _'Thank you...' _It was something distracting, even if only for a second. The entire team had been barricaded in the tiny, hot, torture chamber** forever**. All she had done for the past two days was translate the notebook and work on the Jutsu at the compound. But she had stopped writing long ago. She was waiting for old age to carry her to the grave. She would go peacefully, but she would go with regrets._ 'I will never get to have an__y blonde __haired, white-eyed babies... wait no...that's kind of scary...like a ghost baby... maybe...__dark blue haired babies__ with bright blue eyes...ooooh so pretty...' _She swooned and smothered a tiny laugh as she thought of how adorable her imaginary babies would be while the ink dribbled down her face.

Naruto's head jerked up to stare at Sakura and Hinata, who were making a lot of noise across the table. His girlfriend was wearing a small weirdo grin and rubbing ink around her eye. Sakura looked like she was about to challenge her broken pen to a fight to the death. He was happy for the inkish disaster. It gave him something to think about besides the words on the paper and the fact that his nose was making a strange noise. It felt like it was so loud everyone could hear it. He even tried to hold his breath to stop it; unfortunately he did have to breathe to live. A definite flaw in the plan. So he had started breathing through his mouth, but it made his throat really dry and caused him to think about Shino. _'I wonder what Shino's doing right now...protesting ant farms probably.' _Shino really hated ant farms.

The copy ninja, now fully dressed, let his eye wander away from the dialect they had been deciphering for the last two days as Naruto jerked in the seat beside him. He followed the blonde's gaze to the girls on the other side of the table. Sakura was right across from him. It was making him feel nervous. No, that wasn't making him nervous. Shikamaru on his other side was making him nervous. _'What if he just jumps up on the table and tells everyone...well he wouldn't have to jump...he could just say it from a seated position...Gods what's wrong with me?'_ He wasn't sure what was wrong with him. He was sure however that it looked like Sakura was about to eat her pen. He stared down at his extra pen and wondered if it wanted to be Sakura's pen. _'Probably it does not, considering the fate of her last pen.'_ He picked up his sad, extra pen and held it to out to his medic, trying to stop his hand from trembling. "Pen?" His voice squeaked oddly and he coughed to clear his throat.

Shikamaru turned his head to the squeaking masked man beside him as Sakura snatched the pen from him with a growled 'Thank you.' He watched the exchange with a frown. _'His hand is shaking...Gods Kakashi, calm down. I'm not going to jump on the table and tell everyone. I definitely wouldn't jump on the table...I would stay sitting, but that's beside the point.'_ He stared around at his teammates. He had mostly been lost in his attempt at translating the notebook. Mostly. Except for this noise he was pretty sure was coming from Naruto's nose. That was pretty distracting. _'What is all over Sakura's arm?...Ink...she killed her pen...Hinata...why does she look like Kankuro?...Ink...Sakura killed her pen on Hinata's face...What is Naruto doing...and now why is Kakashi helping him?' _He narrowed his eyes at the men.

Naruto was squinting at the paper and was scribbling much too fast to actually be working on the translation. Kakashi was leaning over and adding his part to whatever it was that Naruto was doing and pointing out what he thought needed to be changed. _'I've lost them all...' _ They needed a break. Everyone was wandering around in their own thoughts and had no more concentration. "...Ok...I'm going to take a break." he stood up from the table.

Knowing and expected glances hit the Nara like tiny missiles. Leave it to him to give up first. He was so lazy sometimes.

"Naruto, what are you doing?" Hinata tilted her inky face over the table to look at his paper curiously. Sakura leaned in too, trying not to look at Kakashi who was directly across from her. It was almost as difficult as copying that stupid text was. She hadn't been able to speak with him openly since he decided to battle Shikamaru in the hallway.

"Nothing..." Naruto covered the paper with his arm.

Kakashi leaned back away from the table to keep a safe distance between himself and Sakura. _'I can smell her...' _It was a cruel and unusual punishment to be so close to her and unable to talk about all that had transpired. Since the conflict with Shikamaru, they had not been alone. Hinata had even followed Sakura in to the bathroom. _'Why do girls do that...What are they doing in there...'_ His mind went into the gutter and he was glad no-one could read his thoughts.

Apparently a secret conversation had gone on behind Kakashi and Naruto, because in split second Shikamaru had snatched Naruto back from the table. The hokage-in-waiting grappled desperately for the paper he had been trying to hide, but Hinata had already easily pulled it from his fingers.

The Byakugan user furrowed her brow at the paper and Sakura joined her. Shikamaru walked around the table and joined both of them. All brows furrowed.

"What is this..?" Sakura eyed the blonde and silver haired men suspiciously. A chill snaked up her spine when Kakashi's gaze held hers.

"Um...it's not a giant ant farm full of Shinos...?" Naruto sucked in a breath with a tiny look of shame.

"With ants protesting their release..." Kakashi added sheepishly as he dropped Sakura's gaze. He was a little proud of his liberating contribution to the picture.

"Ahhhh..." the noise of enlightenment filled the room as the picture became clear on the other side of the table.

An hour later the group had collected all the various works, excluding the Shino ant farm art, locked them down in a scroll that Naruto kept in his pocket, and disbanded with plans to meet back up in two hours.

They all scattered toward sweet freedom.

Shikamaru scoffed, shoved his hands in his pockets and set himself to his task as he left the room dead last._ 'I need to talk to Kakashi and Sakura...but...first I'm going to get something to eat...I need so much food.'_

* * *

"Hi." Sakura mumbled to her masked man, who she found outside on the bench with is smutty book in his face. Before they left the room he had given her a subtle nod toward the door and splayed his hand out on the table taping each finger twice. She had assumed he meant 'outside-in-ten'. She was right.

"Sakura..." He was relieved. He didn't know if she would show up. He set his book in his lap, gave her his eye-crinkle and glanced down at the empty space beside him.

Her heart stuttered as she looked at the space beside him like it was an enemy trap. She wanted to sit next to him, she really did. But they had just been caught together by their teammate. Her nerves were frayed, her career was on the line and they couldn't get caught "I don't think..."

"Sakura, you sit next to me all the time..." It unnerved him how upset he was getting that she was too afraid to be around him. His heart grew heavy with the idea that she was going to tell him she didn't want to do this anymore. "Please." He patted the space, forcing his easy smile.

He said please and her worries were cut in half. He could always do that to her. That stupid eye-crinkle could always make her feel better even if everything seemed to be going the wrong way. That power had only seemed to be growing. '_I can sit by him...I always sit beside him back home...' _She sat on the bench next to him, pulled her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around her legs. "Now what?"

"I thought we would just wait for Shikamaru to explain himself. He was ready to turn us both in the other night...I don't know what changed his mind."

"What happened?" She whispered into her knees, very aware of the way his arm was brushing against her side.

The copy-ninja remembered everything that happened. It's what he did. He remembered. That didn't mean he always understood it. He shifted his weight on the bench so his leg would touch hers. "We just... both let it get out of control. He said stuff and I said stuff. I hit him first, it was my fault."

"It's my fault; I should have gone with you. I could have helped."

"He wasn't listening to explanations, he was too upset. It's a lot to take in, especially for someone like Shikamaru. He analyzes everything...and weighs the odds. You probably would have killed him." He was only half kidding.

"I just want to go home Kakashi..." She sighed and let her hand drop in between them. This mission had been so long already and so hard. "I just want this to all be ok..."

"Me too..." He moved his fingers from their place on his knees and gripped her hand gently in the small space between his leg and hers. "We have to figure out what those rogue ninjas are doing...and get them for what they did to Sai, Akino and Karu...and for what they did to you..." He let his eye slip over the scars on her face.

"And you...but Kakashi, you're the one that always speaks out against revenge..." She looked back to his arm that had faint pale lines to match her own. "And I don't even know where to start. What if the notebook is a dead-end? So far all we have is a lot of numbers and-"

"Revenge isn't our main goal and... It's not a dead-end. You and Hinata are working on the Jutsu. How much longer do you have?" His hand still rested on hers; the soft feel of her skin under his hand only made him want to touch more. The Suna winds seemed bent on snapping her hair into her face and he wanted to tuck it behind her ear. He wanted so much, but would take what he could get when he could get it. _'Beggars can't be choosers Hatake...'_

The thought of the jutsu distracted her from her woes. The touch of his hand on her own made her feel more confident in their pursuits. "They say we'll need another five days at least to understand everything. Then it will just be practice. We could completely rip that guys brain to pieces if we mess up."

"Hnnn. Well I don't think he's going to live long past his use anyway. Tsunade already said as soon as we crack him and get the info..." He shrugged. He didn't give a shit what happened to the people that had caused so much pain to his friends.

"Well, if we blow up his brain..there is no information."

"Oh... That would be a problem."

"Yeah, it would be." She laughed lightly as an image flashed across her brain. "You remember when Hinata and Naruto first got together, and Sai..." She shook her head as she started laughing harder. "Sai told Naruto he had drawn a picture of them…and when he showed everyone...he had drawn them naked. I thought Naruto's brain would explode then."

Kakashi laughed and ran a hand through his hair. "Oh yeah...we were all out to dinner that night right? Hinata turned so red I thought she was going to faint, but she still said thank you. That was when Sai started borrowing all those medical books from you wasn't it?"

She nodded, her body shuddering with the effort to stifle her amusement. "I didn't realize he was using them to research...the anatomy of women..."

The copy ninja rolled his eyes. "You know for weeks he kept making me look at all of his naked sketches because you and Naruto wouldn't...He drew almost everyone we know. Naked... Including himself..." He shook his head and looked up to the sky.

"Oh Gods did he draw me?!" Sakura cringed.

"If he did, he didn't show me. My money would be on Kiba if he did show someone..." He frowned as he thought of the womanizing dogman. "Anyway...I took him with me to Otafuku Gai after that...he had plenty of material to study from."

"That's why he brought all my books back!" She exclaimed. "He said he was finished researching...I can't believe you took him there!" She was slightly perturbed Kakashi had even gone willingly to the town. He was a pervert, but Otafuku Gai had become a cesspool of vulgarity since the war.

"I was on an assignment to pick something up. He just tagged along. How long has it been since you've been there?"

She remembered very clearly. "Just after we brought Sasuke back. You were still injured. I volunteered with Yamato to do a small escort assignment. We had to spend a night there. I will **never** go back to that place willingly. It was disgusting... you will never ever find me there ever..." She was very adamant. That town was repulsive.

"Ok well if I ever need to find you, I won't check there first." He pulled his hand from hers and ruffled her hair before settling it on the bench behind her.

She scoffed, straightened her hair and leaned slightly against the warm feel of his arm on the bench. They both fell into a comfortable silence as they sifted through memories of their shared past.

"Did you know Sai would go and talk to Sasuke?" The medic picked at an invisible thread on her pants. Talking about their rogue team mate was what had brought them closer together. But it was always difficult. The betrayal cut deep and sharp in both their chests. _'If you need a good enemy, chose a friend...They know where to hurt you the most...' _That was one of the first things Kakashi told her when he finally opened up about Sasuke. It was the ultimate truth where their Uchiha was concerned. He had hurt them all like no-one else could.

"Yeah I went and saw him with Naruto right before we left to Tani..." He felt the surge of disappointment washing up on the shores of happy nostalgia he had just been sitting on. Sasuke always did that to him. He had many failures in his life. Sasuke was one of the greatest. Over and over again he tried to turn the boy, now man, back to the right path. Then he had set out to kill what he had created in his failure as a Sensei. He hadn't been able to do either and he wasn't sure which failure he regretted the most: failing at teaching him, failing at showing him or failing at killing him.

"Me too...what did you go there for?"

Her question went unanswered as they both turned to the sound of scraping shoes approaching from around the corner of the building.

* * *

Shikamaru rounded the corner, hands in his pocket, stomach full and eyed the couple on the bench._ '...the couple...is that what they are?...can you be a couple if no-one knows about it? Well I know now...I got my nose broken because of it...his arm is around her...no, it's on the bench...it's sort of around her...probably what he's going for...' _This wasn't going to be fun. He paused a few feet from them and met both their eyes. "We need to talk."

They had all agreed they should talk. Rather, Shikamaru and Kakashi had agreed. Sakura was too busy trying to melt into the bench. The trio marched silently toward Shikamaru's room; all hearts weighed down with the threat of the impending conversation.

Shikamaru frowned as he closed and locked the door behind himself and his two teammates. _'Ok...just make them understand...'_ That would be easier said than done, but he had to. It was his responsibility to Konoha.

Sakura bit her lips as she watched the frowning pony-tailed shadow. She needed to say something. She groped for words. "Thank you for-" She ran out of words._ 'Thank you for lying? Risking your career? Extending our death sentence? Torturing us with you indesicio-'_

"_-_For talking to us." Kakashi finished for his lost kunoichi.

'_Hope for the best, plan for the worst...' _A motto all Shinobi lived jumped into his rehearsed monologue."I'm sorry for the way things happened the other night. It got out of hand. I'm sorry for the things I said about Sai, Tani and both of you-"

"Me? What did you say about me?" Sakura, in mildly offended curiosity, remember how to speak.

'_Nope...not letting that happen.' _Kakashi smiled as he touched his medic on the back lightly and kept it there. She was his, he needed her, and Shikamaru needed to understand that. "It doesn't matter Sakura."

She felt like it _did_ matter, but let it go. Her mind flickered to the fact her Jounin's hand was still resting lightly on her lower back, but she didn't shift away from the touch. Shikamaru knew, there was no point in hiding it from him.

Shikamaru watched the copy-ninja's hand rest softly on Sakura's back and shifted uneasily. There was intent behind that small display and it did not go unnoticed by the tacticians eyes. _'hnn...possession...desperation...and honesty?...Gods what have they gotten me__into__?...I should have knocked...If I had knocked this wouldn't be happening. If I had knocked I could be sleeping or...just sleeping is what I really want to do…What a pain... This is exactly what I get.' _He cleared his throat to continue with his speech.

He was interrupted again.

"I'm sorry about it too. I got...emotional." Kakashi offered.

'_Emotional?...that's the adjective he wants to use?...I guess it does fit...' _The Shadow-user nodded. "I'm not reporting you two. It will ruin this mission and we've got too much depending on this to have us all pulled back home for an investigation. When we get back to Konoha, I'll give you a few days. Then you'll need to tell Tsunade everything."

"Shikamaru, we can't." Sakura cried in panic. "She'll-"

"You have to. Someone will find out... If you're honest and tell her yourselves, it'll be the best way." Shikamaru cut her off.

"But team-seven..." She pleaded. Kakashi's arm sliding a little tighter around her waist did little to offer her the reassurance he tried for.

Shikamaru shrugged sadly. "It was your choice. You both made this decision."

She was beaten. It was true. She was crushed under the weight of the future that lay down the path she and her team-leader had taken.

"It'll be ok Sakura." The copy-ninja tried to console his medic. He could see the tears building up that she was trying so hard to keep down. "We'll figure it out."

Shikamaru stared at the silver and pink haired duo who only half listened as they tried to comprehend his demands. He tried to make them see his point. "Kakashi, if you had to send one of us out to run a dangerous vanguard and needed a powerful chakra user, who would you send? Or if Sakura was trying to save someone's life during a fight, could you focus? Or would you be too worried about protecting her?"

"I trust her to complete missions Shikamaru...and I'll always be worried, she's my teammate." He answered with more confidence than he felt. No, he wouldn't want to send her out into a dangerous area. And no, he couldn't think about anything except her safety when they were fleeing Tani. He had ordered her to run and it had almost killed him, along with their only lead.

Shikamaru shrugged off the masked man's expected answer. "Sakura...if Naruto and Kakashi were both dying and you could only save one of them, who would you save?"

The medic shook her head. "That's not fair Shikamaru. I can't answer that. I can't chose between them..."

The Shadow-user gestured toward the man at her side. "...But you should be able to. Naruto is the Kyuubi. He's almost Hokage. He's one of the most powerful Shinobi in the world...you save him and Kakashi dies. That was the right answer."

"There is no right answer Shikamaru. Who would you save; Ino or Choji?" Kakashi whispered harshly as he pulled Sakura into his chest and wrapped his arms around her rigid body.

"What's going to happen to us Kakashi?" She spoke into his chest, not caring about the eyes of the shadow-user watching. This was his fault. He could watch their lives fall apart. A cold fear settled in her stomach and she couldn't breathe. _'...They're going to take him from me...' _

"I don't know. I'm sorry Sakura." Her anguish tore at him in a way he couldn't imagine. His own dread about what would happen in Konoha piled itself on top of his shoulders deeply and he felt desperate. He wasn't ready. _'I'm going to lose her...'_

"I'm sorry that it has to be this way." Shikamaru watched the image of his despairing teammates as the guilt ate at his heart. _'Look what I'm doing to them...It shouldn't be this hard just to care about someone, should it? Maybe I can help them explain when we get back...Maybe it won't be that bad...' _There were always too many maybes' in the future.

* * *

Mitsuo pushed his glasses up nervously on his nose and stared down the hill at the village below. "So, do we do it...now?"

"Soooo duuu wehh duu itt... neeooww?" Shinchai mocked Mitsuo and plastered on one of the dumbest faces she could manage.

Yori rolled his eyes at the two as he took another swig from his bottle. He frowned when nothing came out._ 'Empty...'_ The thought nearly brought him to a panic. Just the idea of not having any liquor on hand was almost enough to cause his hands to shake. "Let's go down to get a room and some 'll wait for mornin'." It was almost dark and he had a terrible thirst.

"Alright then." Shinchai smiled and began traipsing down the hill toward the village. "I'll be the alarm clock!" She burst into self satisfied laughter.

"Eeerr bee daa eerrlarrmm clouuck...hehehehe" Mitsuo mocked her with a scoff and followed.

Yori took another swig from his empty bottle out of habit and frown at it again. It was still empty. "I swear, I'm going to kill those two when I'm finished with this." He whispered to the bottle before tossing it away.

* * *

**A/N **_Check it out..a Tiny chapter!_

_And for all of its Tinyness... I had a bitch of a time with it... I still don't know if I got it right._

_Updates are going to be slower. Sorry. I started a new much more difficult set of courses, on top of that I'm moving next week, and the cherry on top. I have someone helping me proof read this bad boy. ;p Thank the Gods for her because this muther was all f'ed up. _

_I'm aiming for an update every two weeks. Might be a bit longer then that because of the move but once I get that squared away, its back to normies._


	20. Revelations

_Warning:: Really Really **Big** Warning::_

_This gets very graphic and immoral in terms of violence. That chance of someone being outraged and offended is high._

_If you think that you may be offended. I suggest you skip to the first page break._

_Otherwise, enjoy the show. ;p_

**_Revelations_**

* * *

The sun had creaked over the tiny farming village and had just starting scaring off the deep chill night had brought with it. The people were up tending to their meager livelihoods, mending fences and tools, feeding their livestock and children, and some just chatting amiably with long time neighbors. It was not the most prosperous of villages, but not the least either. There was pride to be taken in an honest day's work and that pride had stamped itself deep to the core of every villager. This was their home and the only home most of them had ever known.

"Whenever you're ready Shinchai." Yori sniffed lightly against the cold wind and tossed a glance at his two companions. "Remember our mission and the plan. Don't fuck up by being careless."

Mitsuo dug his toes into the ground, making a small trench and looking nervous. He was always nervous when they were waiting. He hated the waiting. He would think of all the things that could go wrong and all the repercussions. It made him feel really nauseous. The fighting, that was a different story altogether. Once the mission started and he was set free, everything else faded away. He was a different person. He was a better person.

"Ok, let's have at it. I'll give you five minutes to get into position and then I'll start." Shinchai said with a small grin.

The team split up. Yori took the south end, Mitsuo the east and Shinchai the north. The west had been taken care of already; they wouldn't really need to look after it.

The west side of the small town only saw a flash before everything crumbled around, on top of or right through them. Shinchai had activated her kekkei-genkai. She had set several of her tiny explosives all around the buildings of the area and they were decimated in seconds. Whoever was fortunate enough make it out of the blast alive would be unfortunate enough to be dealt with later.

Mitsuo started forward from his side of the village as the swirling dust kicked up over the top of the tacky little buildings. The noise of the blast brought confused faces to their doors to see what had happened. He shrugged his short sword off his shoulder to begin his work. He was a fire-user, but with his sword in his hand, he was Death. He would take them all.

An old man blundered, bleary eyed to his front door caught Mitsuo's distant gaze and tried to turn back to go inside. The fire-user felt alive; his blood roared through his veins with exhilaration. He raised his sword and brought it down across the old man's back, splitting shirt, skin, muscle and bone like a knife through butter. The slack-jawed old man fell face first onto the dusty floor of the house he had grown up in. His body opening up in crimson, yawning cavern. An old woman by the stove, who Mitsuo assumed was his wife, screamed in horror and raised her flabby old arm, which was still gripping a tarnished pot, and tried to ward off his attack. Her arm fell to the floor only seconds before the rest of her cleaved body. He kicked open the other doors in the house checking for more people. It was disappointingly empty.

He hurried off to the next house, cutting down another man in the street on his way there. His heart was singing with the thrill of the hunt as his enemies blood dripped off his face and sword alike. People were spilling from their houses now in a panic; at first to help the others that were calling for aid, and then running to try to save themselves. They scrambled away in terror from the stranger and his sword. They were too slow, too scared and too confused to get away. Mitsuo sent them all to their Gods, one by one.

Shinchai hummed tunelessly to herself as she yanked a squealing woman back who was trying to shelter her three children. "They'll be with you soon..." She assured. The mother pleaded and cried but died just the same and her squalling brood followed her, as promised.

She would have preferred to set her explosives everywhere, but she could only make so many a day. And they were supposed to get the town bloody. She looked at the dirt floor that was red and muddy with life and blew out a breath. "Well, it's bloody..." She stepped over the little family and moved on to the next residence.

The people were scattering like leaves before her but she caught them all. A young man bravely defended his house with a pitchfork and a hard stare. She jerked the farmer's tool from his hand with a scowl and ran it through his eyes. And when his pretty little wife ran to him, screaming his name in shock, she got her neck snapped for her troubles. Being a Hero just made you first in line to die as far as Shinchai was concerned.

She paused briefly at the gate of a fairly nice house (for that particular village) with two goats tied out front, wondering if she should kill the animals too. Movement in the house caught her eye and her intern turmoil about the goats was put on standby. Blood ran like water on the wooden floors and choked screams polluted the air as she found each and every person that was hiding in the house. Seven in all. She never liked playing hide-and-seek as a child. She still didn't like it as an adult, but that was the mission. She wiped her hands off on her pants and scratched one of the goats on the head softly before she moved on. The goats could live; no-one had ever said anything about goats in the orders.

Yori walked down the center of the street, steps only slightly off from the hard drink he sipped. He had cleared most of the residence and businesses so far. His victim's blood soaked his clothing and filled his nostrils. Gods, it was fuckin' boring. There was a time when this would have invigorated him. Not anymore. Not for a long time.

With as much passion and thought as a shoemaker would give a sole, he slit throat after throat of the men, women and children he found, leaving them gasping shallowly as they tried to cling to their pathetic lives in vain. The tiny hands over flowed with the red that poured from the slit in their necks, eyes all wide with fear. Of course they were going to die. Of course he would kill them. Why did they even try to stop it? It was just a job, a tedious job, and he was only here to get paid.

He reached out to grab a fleeing blonde that he must have missed. His bones turn malleable under his skin to make the odd grab, but then realized it was Shinchai. She wasn't fleeing, she was looking for him.

She flicked Yori's hand away and wiped her arm over her forehead, only succeeding in adding to the sweaty, dirty, blood drenched picture her face already was. "You're slow..." She complained with a frown.

He shrugged. "Mitsuo is having fun, why rush?" At least someone was. He bent down to pick up a glittering coin from the ground and grimaced as a small fletched arrow flew past his face, close enough to move his hair. They both stared up at the roofs.

Shinchai retreated to take cover behind the beam of a porch as her eyes darted around, searching for the enemy in the area.

Yori strode out into the street a bit farther, to have a look. "You know, there was a time when I would look at stuff like this, and I fuckin' loved it..." He gestured flippantly to the destruction of the buildings, the corpses in the streets, the puddles of blood and the flames jumping from rooftop to rooftop, spurred on by the brisk wind. "And...now..."

"What the fuck are you doing Yori!?" Shinchai called, still looking for the archer.

Yori took another swig, squinting into the sun as he looked around, ignoring his teammate's need for an explanation. Obviously he was looking for the person shooting at them, what else would he be doing? Another arrow hit the ground in front of him a few feet away. He pointed to the thatched roof of a small house where a silhouette ducked down.

Shinchai was already on it, stealing across the dirt road and snaking her way to the rooftop where the archer was.

It was a boy, ten years if that. His dark eyes stared defiantly at the petite blonde that walked over to him with ease. He notched an arrow and sent it flying. It flew wide and missed her completely. His trembling hands betrayed his stoic appearance. He was scared. And he should be.

Shinchai smiled apologetically. "You just needed more practice..." She put her arm around the boy's shoulders, slipped a kunai in his soft gut and shoved him off the roof.

Yori stepped back as the body crashed to the ground by his feet, Shinchai dropping down silently beside it, much less dead. He was still lost in the woes of his tragic boring life, so he continued his soliloquy of sadness. "...And now...I look at this...and all I can think about is what's for dinner, why is my fuckin' shirt so itchy and when is the next time I can find someone to suck my cock..." He nudged the boy's body with his foot as he spoke.

"Don't look at me. I'm not fuckin doin' it..." Shinchai scowled and walked away from her depressed team leader. Killing always put him in an awful mood, but never for the right reasons. Whatever those were.

"At least it'd get you to shut your mouth for a few minutes." He shrugged as he followed her toward the last house. It was empty but for a small tabby kitten which Shinchai snatched up quickly with a smile.

"Let's go find Mitsuo..." Yori sighed.

"Yeah..." Shinchai agreed, distracted by the little, pawing, mewling ball of cute in her arms. "He's probably jerking-off in all the blood. Fuckin' freak..." Mitsuo was a strange guy, she liked him well enough. But he had some problems.

Yori rolled his eyes. "Gods...I hope he's not raping anyone...I hate when he does that."

The demolition expert nodded her agreement. Though she kind of understood where the fire-user was coming from. After a something like this, you did get pretty pumped up. She wouldn't mind tangling her feet in the bed with Yori or Mitsuo while she still had the killing fever in her system. Mitsuo would be fun and full of energy, but Yori, he was so tall and you know what they say about tall men. But she was a professional and it wasn't right to sleep with team mates. So she just agreed and kept moving toward the eastern side of town to look for their blood-sucking fire-user.

Mitsuo felt lighter than the wind at the moment. He had killed every way he could imagine this morning. He choked, stabbed, gutted, slit, snapped and, of course, burned. His pulse was racing with delight as he playfully poked at the last person of the day. He wanted to savor this one, so he had passed on the man earlier in his house, after butchering his entire family. It's not like he had to worry about the guy escaping.

"Gods, he's a monster sometimes isn't he?" Shinchai raised a brow as she watched their teammate dart in to poke at the man who was spinning, cursing loudly and whipping a rake around wildly. His clothes were dark with the multiple leaking stab wounds he had already received from Mitsuo's bloody sword.

Yori stared impassively at the defenseless blind man that tried to ward off his unseen attacker. Every time Mitsuo would shallowly stab him, he would turn and Mitsuo would step around to stab him from the other side. From the amount of blood at the man's feet and the way his breath was coming in deep gasps, he figured this had been going on for a while.

Yori sighed and walked over to the dance of death his fire-user comrade was putting on. Shinchai was left behind to play with the kitten on the steps of a burning house. "Come on, we gotta go...you want me to do it?"

Mitsuo winced and his high slipped away like the tide as soon and Yori spoke. It was over, it was all over. The hot feeling of power that radiated from his chest sputtered and died. He pulled his sword through the crook of his arm to wipe away the blood. "Yeah, go ahead..." he mumbled sadly.

Yori waited for the expected answer before reaching out to pull the blind man's head around to face the wrong direction. His face was contorted with surprise as his neck cracked and he fell to the ground. Mitsuo hated for it to be over; the killing. So Yori was always stuck with ending the game for him. Part of him was slightly concerned the fire-user would turn on him one day for ending the game. They'd have to cross that bridge when they got there, if they ever got there.

"Let's go see if anyone survived on the west side. Then we gotta get moving." Yori said as he reached in his pocket for the drink, nearly panicked when it wasn't there, and then realized it was in his other hand.

"Which way we goin' afterwards?" Shinchai waltz over with her new feline friend.

Yori glanced around in each direction trying to decide. "Well, the other place is about two hours east of here. It's smaller than this place. We can hit it tonight ..."

Mitsuo stared at the kitten curiously and reached out to pet it.

"Wipe your fuckin' hands off first!" Shinchai slapped his bloody fingers away and turned toward Yori. "...Seems fine. We'll have to haul ass out of there though."

Mitsuo obediently wiped his tainted fingers off on the only area of blood free cloth he could find on himself. He wanted to pet the kitten. It was really cute. "Two hours further in? What's everyone else doing?"

"Norio's team hit last night and this morning. Dai's team is only doing one, probably tonight. With Her and Nobu's kekkei-genkai they can pull off a big one and move quickly. So they're hitting a bigger village a lot farther in." Yori answered.

"You going to keep him?" Mitsuo asked Shinchai as he tapped the playful creature on its pink nose lightly.

"Yep." She decided.

"What are you going to feed him? How are you going to keep him from wandering off? What are you going to do with him tonight when we are-"

"Mitsuo! Stop that shit..." Shinchai snarled. "...I'm just going to take him with me for now."

"Well it's a lot of responsibility..." He pulled his glasses out of his pocket and pushed them up on his bloody face. '_Wish I found a kitten...'_ They both turned as their blonde team leader whistled, already halfway down the street heading toward the western side of the village. "What are you going to name him?" He asked as they both trotted after Yori.

Shinchai stared thoughtfully at her kitten and smiled. "...What's the name of this village?"

* * *

Kakashi sat on the table in the meeting room with his feet on the chair, hanging the notebook in front of his face. "So what do we see?" He asked for possibly the twelfth time. Focusing on discovering the secrets in the notebook was all he could do right now. His future with Sakura was dangling by a thread and he was afraid if he paid too much attention to it, it would snap.

Shikamaru tried to shove his face deeper into his palm as he sat cross legged on the floor with the sacred translation of the text in his lap. Really he had never felt quite so disappointed in himself as he had when he had discovered their mistake in the alignment of the text. Kakashi had copied the notebook in the wrong direction, not realizing it. An honest mistake, but still nothing any of them would brag about... _'Well it was upside down, in the wrong direction, and in a different language...pretty confusing...guess I should be happy we found it at all...' _At least it had only put them back a few days. "We see an old dialect that was used by high level clans to communicate with other high level clans in various regions." He answered for probably the twelfth time.

"Who has access to that information?" The copy-ninja asked again. It was helpful to hear it again and again. Maybe the missing links would pop together this time.

"Earth, Wind, Fire, Water and... Lightning."

The masked-man slumped as the long list was repeated.

Shikamaru kept going. "Now from the numbers we can tell this merchant is selling 'a product'. The buyer is paying too much for 'a product'. The buyer doesn't even take the thing he's buying and the money is being cut. Sixty percent is being sent to..." He gestured toward Kakashi to finish.

"It's being sent to four different places-"

"-Three different places now. The other place got crossed out on page twenty."

"Three places and the merchant is keeping the other forty percent."

"What happened to the fourth?" Shikamaru mumbled .

"Where are these three places?" Kakashi wondered out loud.

Neither of them knew either answer.

"Where is the money coming from?" Shikamaru stared at the notebook in Kakashi's hand.

"From..." Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the words. "...the inferno...Who's that? Sounds like some name a rogue-nin gave himself. Maybe a fire-user?"

Neither of them really knew who that was either.

Kakashi dropped the book on the table next to him and closed his eye. _'...Think Hatake...think...' _

"What are you going to tell Tsunade?"

"That we have translated most of the notebook, have found out that someone was laundering money, but we don't know to who, or to where. " The copy-ninja answered, knowing full well that's not what Shikamaru was asking.

Shikamaru exhaled deeply and pressed his fingers together as he thought. "...About you and Sakura..."

Kakashi opened his eye and slid it over to the man sitting on the floor. He offered no reply to the question. _'Why is he asking? He's already made up his mind.'_

"How did it happen? You two...how long has it been going on?" The shadow-user asked, meeting the lone eye of the Jounin. "I'm not judging, I just want to-"

"You're always judging Shikamaru." Kakashi replied despondently.

"Help me understand..." he asked. "I still want you to tell Tsunade, but I can help too. I'm still your friend Kakashi."

The copy-ninja shrugged. "I knew this would happen. We both did. Maybe I knew more than she did. You can't hide things from people that are always looking for things that are hiding."

"So it's been going on awhile?" Shikamaru felt upset with the two again._ '...How did they lie to everyone for so long?'_

"Not like how you're imagining. But...I think it would have happened no matter what, maybe not for years, but it would have."

"What changed then?"

"She almost died Shikamaru. She almost died and it was my fault. Sai did die and I never thought she would talk to me again. I lost her before I ever had her... And now I have her and you're going to make me give her up..." A part of him loathed the Shadow-user for what he was doing to them.

He ignored the last accusatory statement. It was bound to happen. "So it didn't start 'till after the mission with Sai?"

"It started in Tani, but we..." he sat forward and stared at the wall as he recalled the memories. "We tried to keep our distance. Give each other space... We both agreed it couldn't happen."

"I don't understand. If you agreed it couldn't happen..." he trailed off. _'There wasn't a lot of space between them a few nights ago...there was actually...negative space?'_

"I watched her get tortured and almost raped. I thought I'd lost her again when we ran from Tani. When you told me she was in Suna and she was ok..."

'_It's only been going on since they both arrived in Suna?...After they both thought the other had died?...So it's not some weird __authority-figure fetish or__ some idea from a porno...' _ Either one of those was better than the alternative that seemed to be happening between the copy-ninja and the medic.

_S_hikamaru remembered the strange moment in the hospital bed when Kakashi woke up, full of unbridled relief. He remembered how Sakura never left Kakashi's side while he was unconscious after she had worked on him for hours. How she pleaded, asking him to please bring the copy-ninja back after she arrived in Suna. How the first thing he asked when they found him in the desert was if Sakura had made it. "You know it has to be like this. You have to tell Tsunade. You two can't keep it a secret."

"What would you have done?" Kakashi asked in a harsh whisper, looking for where the Nara thought he had gone wrong. He hated how easy Shikamaru made the answers seem. Just tell Tsunade. It wasn't that simple.

"I don't know..." He answered honestly. He was still trying to deal with his feelings of guilt for his part of their story. "Do you love her?"

The copy-ninja felt a familiar weight pulling his heart down and ripping the breath from his chest. "What difference would it make? ...I'm going to get some air." He answered coldly as he stood up from the table and left the room without a parting glance.

Shikamaru struggled with the obligations he felt toward his friends and the responsibilities he had toward Konoha._ '...What am I doing? What would Asuma do? What would my dad do?' _None of the three had an answer for him.

* * *

Yori poured the beautiful amber-colored liquid over the square chunks of ice while Mitsuo and Shinchai sat on the bed and cooed over Mino. The kitten was now the fourth member of the team and least irritating by far. He stared down at the drink and felt a chord of happiness pluck at his heart. Gods, ice was an amazing invention.

The scroll on the table in front of him filled up with words quickly as he raised the glass and swished the cool, burning drink around in his mouth before swallowing. When it hit his gut satisfaction spread through him from head to toe.

"_Dai checked in last night after you did. All the missions have been completed successfully. "_

Yori wrinkled his nose, glass still raised to his lips. "Dai, that ugly bitch...Wish she woulda died." He grabbed the pen and answered._ "Good to know."_

_"Thank you for your hard work. Where is your team now?"_

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, 'cause killing a bunch of farmers is hard..." he mumbled and jotted down his reply. _"Our pleasure. We turned north and __are heading across__ the map. We should be at the next rendezvous in a few days."_

"_Good. Your payment will be there. Be very careful. By morning, I'm sure you will be hunted."_

Being hunted and getting caught were two different things. Neither one of them would stop him from getting his money. _"We'll be careful. We'll contact you when we get there."_ He turned with a sharp stare as Mitsuo cursed loudly. A puffed up Mino, looking very upset stalked across the bed toward Shinchai.

"Little fucker scratched me." Mitsuo barked and pointed at the cat.

"You sat on his tail!" Shinchai defended.

"It was an accident!"

"**You** were a fuckin' accident; your mom said so..."

"You don't even know my mom!"

"Neither did your dad."

"Suck my dick Shinchai."

"Why don't you suck mine Mitsuo, it's bigger."

"You wanna see whose is bigger?"

Yori gripped his drink tightly. Life hated him. What did he ever do to deserve this? "Shut the fuck up. Only the Gods know what the fuck is wrong with both of you dumbasses!"

Mitsuo gave a small grin as he wiped the small trickle of blood from his hand. "You're the common denominator in our factor of _fucked up_ Yori."

Shinchai laughed, the startling noise caused the cat the leap off the bed. "Good one Mits!" She held her hand out for a high-five and was promptly granted her wish.

"What is that 'spose to mean?" Yori growled. He was too old for this shit.

"Calm down Bendy, we're just playing..." Shinchai shrugged as the irritation leaked off her team leader.

"All you two do is play..."

"You should try it sometime, might make you feel better." Mitsuo offered as he again sat beside Shinchai and tried to tease the cat back onto the bed.

"I'm too old to be playin'."

"You're fuckin' thirty-two Yori...you're only four years older than me, and you're younger than Shinchai by years."

"He is fuckin' **not**!" Shinchai slapped Mitsuo on the back of the head. "I'm a year younger than you are stupid."

The tall squad-leader frowned and finished off his drink. He may only be thirty-two, but he felt older. Much older. "Workin' with you two idiots makes me tired."

"All that drinkin' makes you tired..." Shinchai quirked a brow at the glass he was re-filling.

"The drink is all that keeps me from cutting your eyes out and skull fuckin' you both."

Shinchai grimaced. "Skull fuckin'? What's that?" It sounded unpleasant.

"I think it's when you stick your..." Mitsuo motioned to between his legs. "…into a person's eye...You wanna do that to us boss?" He looked slightly upset.

"You're both assholes." Yori pointed at them each with a glare. "Even that cat-"

"So you wanna fuck us?... And the cat?.. In our eyes? Or our assholes?" Shinchai asked with a growing smile.

"Don't do it to the cat...he's just a baby..." Mitsuo pleaded for Mino's sake.

Yori scoffed and turned back to the scroll and rolled it up. He couldn't let them goad him into one of their little arguments. It would never stop. "We move out in the morning. Get a good night's sleep. By dawn they'll be trying to find us."

Mitsuo lost his grin and re-gained his hesitant frown. "Shouldn't we just leave now? "

Yori looked at his bucket of ice longingly. He wouldn't get ice out in the wilderness evading capture. "No, we all need our rest. The mission was hard and we did a good job."

Shinchai looked baffled. "It wasn't that hard...we took out of a bunch of villagers that were untrained, unaware and just waking up...then we did it again to people who were asleep."

"I liked it…" Mitsuo muttered as he remembered the way his limbs felt feather light while they slashed through the air. How his sword performed perfectly and his enemies fell before him like rocks in a landslide. He had been a God for a few minutes, now he was just Mitsuo again. "When's the next assignment?"

"Orders and payment as soon as we get to where we're goin'." Yori answered quickly. He loved ice, but he loved getting paid more.

* * *

The pink haired medic walked beside Hinata in a quiet stupor as they headed back to the rooms after a day of working on the Jutsu. She felt drained, physically and mentally. The jutsu was difficult and challenging. Her situation with Kakashi was the best and the worst things that had ever happened to her. She didn't know how to deal with it all. She wanted to be happy, completely happy. It seemed like ages since she could say that about herself.

She stared up at the star filled sky and smiled as she recalled another night over a year ago. The fond memories of a lost friend and a close companion warmed and hurt her heart simultaneously.

xxx

_Herself, Sai and Kakashi were running down a lead Sasuke had given up on some missing ninja that had fled to lightning. Naruto was out on an assignment from Tsunade, and would meet them in a few days._

"_Sakura..." Sai whispered in her ear._

_She jumped awake, Kunai in hand, chakra alive and ready. "What is it Sai?" She whispered._

_Kakashi a few feet away had also popped up from the commotion. "What's wrong?"_

"_Sorry Kakashi-san. I had a question for Sakura." Sai fixed his smile into place._

"_Ohh.." the masked man flopped back down pulling the bedroll over his face._

"_Yes Sai?" She asked again. Sai had a habit of needing his questions answered immediately. It was only extremely inconvenient when she was at home, asleep in her bed at three in the morning. That only happened once. She had told him no questions between eleven pm and six am while she was off duty, and if he showed up before ten he better bring breakfast. He had obeyed her requests to the letter after that._

_The artist crouched down beside her and pulled out a crumpled up piece of paper. "You gave me this at the hospital last week." He showed her the paper. _

_She squinted in the light and recognized the sheet he had. "It's just a basic information sheet Sai. It's ok if you forgot, everyone knows you. We were just updating the system." She couldn't believe he was waiting until midnight in lightning country to try to turn it in._

"_I know. I just wasn't sure how to fill this part out." He pointed to the box tasked for the closest family member to contact. "I don't have a family. I tried to break in and look at Naruto and Kakashi-san's files, because they don't have family either... but they were both missing."_

_Sakura was speechless. First, because he was so completely confused about what to write down on a simple sheet of paper. Second because he broke in to secure files trying to find the answer instead of just asking. Freaking Ninjas._

"_Stop looking for my files Sai." Kakashi huffed from under his blankets._

_Sakura narrowed her eyes at the Kakashi shape pile of blankets. "Did you steal your files?"_

"_They are mine. I can't steal them."_

"_Did you take them from the hospital?" She worded carefully in order to avoid evasion._

_Silence answered her question. She scoffed and turned back to Sai. She would have to deal with the paranoid kleptomaniac copy-ninja later. "Naruto's files are kept separate because he is the Kyuubi."_

_The dark-haired man nodded and shoved the paper at her, attempting to get her attention back on the fact that he had an empty slot that he didn't know what to do with._

"_Sai you can put whoever you want to on the paper."_

"_It says closest family member. Last time I filled it out, it just said emergency cont-"_

"_It doesn't matter what it says-"_

"_If it doesn't matter then why did they put it down?"_

_She blinked, asked her patience to last a little longer, and tried a different route to get through to her teammate. "Sai, even if you aren't related to someone, they can still be family. Family is just a word, not a definition."_

_Sai stared at her curiously and awaited further explanation._

_She continued. "Like, you know all about Naruto; his quirks and his favorite training methods. And how Naruto knows all about me; my favorite movie and my biggest fear. I know all about Kakashi; his favorite places to read and where he likes __to buy the__ dogs' shampoo. Kakashi knows all about you, how you get -"_

"_So you guys are my family?" Sai cut her off, obviously understanding what she was trying to say._

"_Yeah, sort of. Anyone you feel really close to can be your family." She shrugged. "It doesn't have to be someone on the team."_

"_Who's your contact Kakashi-san?" Sai called out, thinking it might be best just to copy his answer. Sakura was being wishy-washy. He wished she would just tell him who to put down._

_The copy-ninja didn't answer. Apparently he had fallen asleep._

"_Thank you Sakura...I'll turn it in when we get back home." Sai frowned as he tucked the paper in his pocket. Then he retreated back to the tree-tops to ponder her answer and keep watch._

_Sakura stared up at the twinkling stars and sighed. Sometimes her teammates were very strange._

"_Sakura...I did take my files." The Jounin admitted quietly from under his blanket._

_She smiled and continued to watch the sky. Maybe it would be more accurate to say; only sometimes her teammates were very normal. "Just give them back..."_

"_...You're my contact..." He mumbled. "...because you know where I buy the dogs' shampoo." She could hear the smile in his voice._

"_I was giving an example..." She rolled her eyes trying to beat back the unexpected surge of happiness that stemmed from the fact that he had made her his contact. Last time she looked at his paperwork, his contact was Pakkun. It upset some of the other medics quite a bit because when Kakashi got injured, they would have to try to find Pakkun. Who happened to be a summon only Kakashi could summon._

"_Goodnight Sakura." He yawned._

"_Goodnight Kakashi." She had watched the stars contentedly for a while longer as she laid down and drifted back to sleep._

_xxxxx_

She tried to swallow the lump in her throat the memory brought her. Sai, confused and curious about something so mundane like wanting to know who he could call family. Kakashi, so aloof and eccentric. She missed it. It was so complicated now._ 'Sai, I miss you so much...what would you say about this? Would you be angry?'_ She didn't think he would... and that only made the hurt go deeper.

Hinata touched her friend on the arm. "Sakura, what's wrong?"

The pink-haired kunoichi glued on a smile for her friend and shook her head, not trusting herself to speak just yet.

Hinata didn't believe it for a second. "Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, I'm just-" She didn't know how to answer.

Hinata stayed silent and waited for Sakura to finish. Patience was something the Hyuuga heir had in boatloads. As they approached a small food stand and each woman ordered a Tea, Sakura spoke up again.

"Have you ever wanted to do something that everyone else thought was crazy, but you still wanted to do it?

Hinata sipped on her tea and thought on the question earnestly. "I did try to fight Pein alone to protect Naruto. I didn't tell anyone, but I'm sure they would have said I was crazy."

Sakura stared at her cup, slightly unnerved at how close to the mark Hinata had gotten. "What if they would have told you no, not to do it? That it wasn't right?"

The Hyuuga smiled softly at the painful memory. "It was right. I knew it was."

"How did you know?"

"I felt it here..." She touched her chest lightly, a small blush creeping up her face."Why are you asking this Sakura?"

Cornered. She had two options. Tell the truth. Or lie. _'Just tell the truth maybe she can help, lies don't help anything...' _She raised her eyes up to her friends."I-"

"You don't have to tell me until you want to, but I'm here if you need me. I know all about not being ready to do something, or being afraid. If it feels right, it probably is. You're a good person Sakura." She patted her friend's hand softly and did not comment on the two tears that slipped down her face.

"Thank you Hinata. I'm just going through something. It's really ok." Sakura wiped the tears away quickly.

They walked the rest of the way back to the rooms in comfortable silence. Each woman lost in her own thoughts.

* * *

"Kakashi-san, how did it go today?" Hinata asked as they rounded the corner to the hotel. Sakura's head jerked in the direction her Hyuuga friend was looking.

"We found out the purpose of the notebook. It's a record of how they are laundering a large amount of money. But we don't know from where or to who. He stopped in front of the two Kunoichi, his eye raking over the drained appearance of his medic and sticking. "Sakura?" He asked with a concerned tone. _'She looks as miserable as I feel...why won't she talk to me?'_

The soft way her name fell from his mouth was enough to bring her to tears. But not here. She shook her head, eyes still on her cup of tea and gave it a half-smile. "I'm sorry I'm just tired. I'm going to go inside." She swept past them both and continued into the building.

"You should talk to her Kakashi-san." Hinata frowned after her friend.

"What's wrong with her?" He asked, feigning ignorance.

"She wouldn't tell me." She let her pale eyes wander up to the copy-ninja's own. "...Do you know what's wrong with her?"

Kakashi, for the first time in his life, felt wary of Hinata. A cold rock dropped in his gut. _'Does she know too...?' _He gave his eye-crinkled smile to erase any worry that might be on his face. "No but I'll ask...if you think I should."

"I think you should." She gave him a timid grin and handed him her tea. "You can have it. It will make you feel better." She patted him on the arm as she too walked inside.

The copy ninja shoved his hand in his pocket, stared at his newly acquired tea and wondered what had just happened. _'Did Sakura tell Hinata? Or is she just being Hinata… and being nice..?' _His tea wouldn't tell him. It had been sworn to secrecy.

* * *

Sakura dried her hair off distractedly, her thoughts everywhere but on the present. She was still remembering the past and tried to predict the future. _'What is going to happen? I don't want to ruin everything...I'm going to have to let him go...but...I don't think I can...' _It was the last two thoughts that were causing her the most strife. She didn't want to go through this. She didn't want to be apart from Kakashi. Just the thought quickened her pulse. And the fact that being without him weighed so heavily on her, scared her to death.

She left the steam filled sauna of her bathroom, snatching her tea off the counter. Her breath caught in her chest at the sight of her Jounin leaning against the wall by the windows. Her blood sped through her system from two very different emotions. Fear and Happiness. "What are you doing here?"

Kakashi pushed off the wall and dropped his drink in the trash can on his way across the room to his medic. He reached his hand out and touched her elbow gently, not missing the way she leaned back from him slightly. "Don't do this to me Sakura..."

"I'm not doing anything ..." She answered unsurely as his fingers ran slowly up the back of her arm. His dark eye softly begged her to tell him the truth.

"You have hardly looked at me since we talked to Shikamaru..."

"What do you want me to do?" She refused to meet his eye and stared at his chest. It was true she had been trying to avoid him. She had been trying to think and she couldn't think around him. But she had found that being distant from him only made her feel that much worse. He always gave her hope, where she had none.

"Don't look so sad and don't give up...We can do this." He reached his arms around her back and pulled her to his chest. Relief eased his worry as she wrapped her arms around his waist and sunk in to him. He had been so afraid she would reject him and tell him that he wasn't worth it. That the threat of what awaited them in Konoha was too much for her and she couldn't do it. He didn't want to think of what would happen to him if she said those words. She always gave him peace, where he had none.

She didn't want him to hold her like this. It was only going to make it harder later when they got home. But how could she not? The rise and fall of his breath under her cheek was soothing her frayed nerves. His arms were keeping back the uncertain future. He was what she needed, maybe he always had been. "I'm sorry...I'm so scared. I don't know what's going to happen. I don't want to tell Tsunade." She spoke into his chest.

Her words echoed his feelings exactly. "It's ok...I don't want to lose you Sakura. You…I..." He tried to find the words he wanted to say but they kept getting stuck in his throat. "I just don't want to lose you." He sighed and pressed a masked kiss to her head.

"What if you do...when we get home?" She whispered, thinking of what could happen.

"I won't."

"Do you promise?" She immediately felt ashamed for such a selfish request.

He hesitated. He wished he hadn't, but he did. '..._Do you promise Hatake...one more broken promise to add to the list?'_

She pulled back and smiled wearily. "Don't answer that. I'm sorry." She moved her arms from around his firm waist, her tea still in her loose grip, and took a timid sip.

"Where is everyone at?" She tried to change the subject. She couldn't stop herself from feeling the way she did about him. It was impossible. She could worry in Konoha. He was with her now, he wanted to be here with her, and that was all that mattered.

The copy-ninja followed her subject change, still mulling over her previous retracted question. "Naruto's still out. Shikamaru went for a walk to clear his head. I just picked up the translations from him." He motioned to the few books on the table that had not been there before she got in the shower. "...And Hinata..." He furrowed his brow. "Did you tell Hinata about...us?"

"No why?" She asked, perplexed and more than a little worried.

He shook his head. "I don't know. She was..." She wasn't really doing anything now that he thought about it. "...Nevermind...I'm imagining things."

"I'll help you look over the notebook. Fresh eyes see more." She took his hand softly and led him to the table. She sat in the chair and smiled when he pulled the other chair right beside her and flopped down. His arm wrapped around her shoulders and her hand rested lightly on his leg. If only it could be stay like this.

* * *

They worked over the notebook for the better part of an hour, looking over the numbers and text. Sakura asked some questions that Shikamaru and the copy-ninja hadn't, and more that they already had.

The medic fought off a chill that swept through her body as she thumbed through the pages of the notebook. A draft had slipped in through the tiny crack in the window she was next to. "The desert is so confusing. So hot in the day and so cold at night."

"And so windy..." Kakashi added as he reached over to the bed behind him to grab the blanket for Sakura.

"I don't understand why these rooms don't have fireplaces." She glared around the room, making note of several convenient areas a fireplace would fit.

"Insurance? Why don't you just turn on the heater?"

"It makes the air too dry."

"We are already in the desert."

"...It makes it drier?"

Kakashi laughed at his quirky kunoichi and laid the blanket over her shoulders.

Sakura tucked the blanket around her feet and pointed to the notebook. "Ok, we've got these three guys, getting money from this Merchant in Tani-"

"Why do you think they are people and not towns? Or a business?" The copy ninja tilted his head at the new perspective.

Sakura frowned. "Because, either way people are getting it. These are bad guys already, they are laundering this money. So the bad guys, or girls, are getting the money in the end."

"Ok. Three bad guys are getting the money from the merchant." He agreed. "And the merchant is getting his money from this 'Inferno' guy." He rolled his eyes at the stupid name.

"What makes you think it's a guy?" She joked and bumped his shoulder with her own, smiling as she turned his question on him.

He stared at the notebook. "I don't know...what if it's not?" He leaned back and looked over at Sakura and her blanket.

Sakura watched silently as the copy-ninja's thought process slammed down a new path and sniffed out the new avenues.

He turned back to the notebook, rapidly flipping through the pages. " I think ...that...we translated this too literally..."

"What?" She tried to make sense of what he was saying.

Puzzle pieces started dropping into place and Kakashi couldn't keep up. He tapped the notebook rapidly. "This isn't inferno. This is Fire."

Sakura peered down at the words. "Inside the Fire? What does that mean?"

Everything was lining up and Sakura wasn't following. He tried to shove her in line with him. "Sakura, it's from inside the fire." His pulse was locked tight into overdrive as the connections fired off in his brain. Details that had seemed insignificant before suddenly were undeniable proof.

"What?" She was still lost and starting to panic because Kakashi was going into his mental battle zone and she didn't know why.

He cupped her cheek, turned her face from the book, and met her gaze. "The money is coming from Inside Fire country. The orders are coming from inside Fire. Sakura we're in the wrong country." He waited for the words to sink in.

Her light bulb flicked on and her eyes widened. She grabbed the notebook and looked for the answer it didn't have. "Where in Fire? Where?"

"I don't know...The rogue-ninja were in Fire when we were sent out after them with Sai."

"Konoha?" It all made too much sense. "It has to be. We thought there was a leak in Suna because they knew about our meeting with Tsunade while we were captured in Tani...but it wasn't Suna was it?"

Kakashi nodded. "It's someone at home."

"What do we do?" She stood up quickly. They needed to leave. "We need to tell Tsunade."

"No Sakura... no..." Kakashi followed her up and grabbed her arm. "We need to think about this."

"Think about what?" She questioned sharply. Her need to act was almost uncontainable.

"Shhh...just wait." He inhaled deeply to collect his thoughts. "We need to keep this quiet. If we tell Tsunade, and she tells Shizune, and she tells Genma, and he tells Yamato, and he tells Iruka...the whole village will know. The person we are after will know."

"We could tell Tsunade not to tell anyone."

He shook his head. "In person only. Nothing written down. Nothing anyone else can see."

"Naruto, Hinata and Shikamaru? We need tell them."

"I don't know." The copy ninja ran a hand through his hair as he tried to think of the best options. "No. I don't think so."

"Kakashi..." She whispered incredulously. "They are on this mission too. We can't keep information from them."

"We can't run the risk of this getting out. Hinata is a Hyuuga, if anyone has had experience with the dialect from the notebook, it's her clan."

"Hinata is not a trai-!" She didn't even get a chance to finish before he put his hand lightly over her mouth to hush her.

"Shhhh. I'm not saying that. She didn't even recognize the language... I'm saying it might be someone in her clan. The less she knows about this, the less danger she is in."

Sakura still didn't agree but decided to hear him out and he removed his hand from her lips.

"Everyone knows Hinata is a terrible liar. "If she can look them in the eyes and honestly say we didn't get any useful information from the notebook and that we didn't find anything. That could help us too. Our main goal is to figure out who is doing this. We don't need them to know how much we know..."

Well now that did make some sense. Maybe there was a reason he was such a revered ninja. "...And Naruto?"

Kakashi crossed his arms over his chest and thought out loud. "Naruto...if we tell him he's going to freak out. He will leave to go back to Konoha immediately, knowing that the danger is there. He would probably go without us, even if we told him not too...and when he shows up unannounced, the enemy will know something has happened. Naruto is still not very good at hiding his emotions."

Shit, he had another point. "Shikamaru?"

"Shikamaru is going to figure it out, he might have already...we need to talk to him." he agreed. The shadow-user had to be brought in.

* * *

"Somebody needs to tell me what is going on. And they need to do it **now!**" Tsunade stood, hands on her hips in her office, staring at the faces around her.

"We've got reports of four villages being attacked now." Gai answered solemnly.

"Attacked by what?" Takashi, the old council elder spat out in frustration.

"Four?!" Tsunade cried in outrage. "I thought it was three?!"

"We just got a report of another a few minutes ago." Shizune offered.

"What do the reports say?" The Hokage addressed everyone in the room

"Hokage-sama, May I?" Akihisa stepped forward, unrolling a map and nodding to the desk.

"Go ahead..." She shoved the paperwork away and motioned for everyone to come closer to the map the Anbu captain was putting down.

"So far these villages." Akihisa pointed to three dots on the map, naming the towns off as he motioned toward them. Two in the northern region between River and Mist "Yaizu and Gotsu". One more directly in between Konoha and the Valley of the End "Odate".

"And this one." Gai stepped forward and pointed to a dot far to the south "Sasebo".

"What has happened to them?" Tsunade stared down at the harmless black dots on the map, imagining all the horrors that could have taken place.

"Reports are saying that all of the villages have been completely destroyed."

"And the people?" Shizune questioned in a whisper.

"So far no reports of any survivors. Everyone is dead." The senior Anbu captain frowned at the map as he spoke. "

"How many people lived there?" Tsunade asked, fearing the answer. She could feel a cool drip of sweat sliding down her back. _' ...We aren't ready for this...not again...'_

"Odate had around sixty people... my niece lived there." Takashi mumbled, staring down at the point on the map with the same name. "It was just a farming village."

"The other villages were smaller. No more than thirty or forty people...including the children." The Anbu man followed in a whisper.

"Gods..." Shizune covered her mouth in shock as the implications set in.

"You're telling me that almost two hundred civilians were killed, including the sick, the old, and the children?" The Hokage asked in disbelief.

The room was silent as everyone did the math in their heads and found it to be the truth.

Tsunade rubbed her forehead and turned to look out the window. "This was a massacre."

"We have many enemies. Many people that want to take advantage of the strain we are in from the effects of the war. I have often persuaded you to be more frigid against the other countries Tsunade..." The council elder shook his head in regret and anger.

"Takashi, can you contact the Daimyo?" Tsunade asked wearily. She didn't have time to deal with the elder and his accusations.

"Yes, as soon as we are done here Hokage-sama." He replied with a curt nod.

The Sannin closed her eyes and exhaled. The doubt she always felt pooled in her stomach. '_I have made a mistake...somewhere...I made a mistake...all those people are dead...' _She opened her eyes and stared out at Konoha. "How many teams are out of the village?"

"We only have thirty-five percent of our force in and around Konoha now. Twenty percent of the teams out of the village are also out of the country." Gai answered immediately.

"Akihisa, I need you to send a message to all of our people outside of the country that you can. Tell them to come home. Someone just declared war on Fire country and we need to protect her." Tsunade spoke clearly, past all the reservations she was having. Her heart was racing away uselessly in her chest, but she couldn't show any weakness. She was the Hokage, but she was so tired. _'...another war...we haven't even fully recovered from the last...What is going on..? Who would do this..?'_

"Yes Tsunade-sama" Akihisa bowed and turned to leave the room.

"Hokage-sama!" a new voice sprang into the room before the Senior Anbu captain could even take a step toward the door.

Tsunade turned to the newcomer. "What is it Genma?"

The senbon-user jogged over to the desk. He pointed to a dot on the southern border by River country, panting to catch his breath. "M- Mino... Mino has been destroyed too." He stepped back and gave Shizune a worried glance.

"Everyone get out. Get me some more information on what's going on. I want to know how this happened...and Shizune get ahold of Naruto in Suna, our scheduled debrief isn't for another two hours. Tell that toad to find him wherever he is." She waved them away with a flick of her wrist. She needed to think. She needed to be alone.

As they all left the room, the unmistakable sound of tinkling glasses followed them as Tsunade pulled out a bottle of Sake and poured herself a tall glass.

* * *

Shikamaru's feet scuffed the dusty streets of Suna as he walked to nowhere in particular. There was too much in his head. He was doing some brain organizing and he had to walk to do it. It was a rule. _'Rules...broken by Kakashi and Sakura...when we get back to Konoha...they will tell Tsunade. I will help by saying they didn't endanger the mission in Suna...that should help...or I'm going to get my rank stripped for not following the correct procedure by reporting them as soon as I found them...doing sex...or making love?...um... physically fraternizing?' _ He scoffed out loud at himself. "What a pain, sex makes everything so complicated..."

An old lady shuffled by him with an icy glare. Young people these days, walking alone in the dark and talking about complicated and painful sex. Really, what was the world coming to?

Shikamaru sucked in a breath as the old witch leveled him with her death stare._ 'What is her problem?...ok...so worst case scenario. They both get demoted...all of us...ughh...shit...I don't want to get demoted...ok...we all get demoted...Team seven gets split up...Naruto transforms into the Kyuubi because Kakashi is sleeping with Sakura and they ruined everything...and he destroys Konoha... and I escape because I saw it all coming and got away in time...' _He felt a little happy he survived. His happiness was short lived as he realized how stupid he was being.

'_Or more likely; team-seven gets disbanded...and they get separated... Kakashi gets put back in Anbu or sent to a training outpost...because he's too valuable of an asset to be kept off mission status...Sakura gets stuck in the hospital or sent somewhere in Fire country to help with training other medics. I get passed up for promotion for the next five years...Naruto doesn't speak to either of them for a long time...well maybe Sakura...he will blame Kakashi. Sakura and Kakashi pass each other on the streets the one time a year they are both in Konoha and will be to hurt and afraid to even speak to one another...they both die sad and alone.' _He wandered into a dimly lit bar. The logical worst case scenario made him crave a beer.

He sighed and stared at the beer. "Best case scenario...is..." He picked at the label on the beer as he thought. _'...We tell Tsunade, she breaks her desk, busts the window...throws things...splits up the team...and accepts it for what it is…Two people that want to be together. Naruto freaks out...tries to kick Kakashi's ass...and forgives him two weeks later...Ino immediately starts planning a wedding...my mom again starts asking me when I'm going to get married because she wants grandkids before she's too old to enjoy them...' _He slumped dejectedly. "I don't even have a prospective girlfriend...how can I get married and have kids?"

The man on the barstool next to Shikamaru frowned at his drink and scooted over a few seats farther away from the pony-tailed cry baby. He was here to wallow quietly in his own miseries. The name of his miseries was Wife and Kids. If the pony-tail man wanted them so bad, he would give them all away for cheap. He worked his ass off all day long to provide for them the best he could. It was never enough. He didn't have any friends, he was too cut throat at work because he needed to be the best to make the most. He was always so lonely, not even his wife would talk to him anymore. All she ever did was spend his money, and tell him he was too selfish in bed. What did she expect when they only did it once a month!? It's not like she ever acted like she enjoyed it anyway! She was probably cheating on him right now.

The man at the bar's wife sat at home as their two kids raced around the kitchen table. She bit her nails wondering if her husband was cheating on her right now. He was so angry all the time, so distant. Was it too much to ask for her husband to talk to her every once in a while? No he just grabbed her ass when she walked by and got pissed when she told him to stop. She spent all day at home taking care of the kids he said he wanted! Where was her life? Her free time?! All he did was hang out with his buddies at work and drink at the bar. He probably thought about other women when they had sex. She was so self-conscious about the idea they hardly even had sex anymore. Not that he even cared if she enjoyed it when they did it anyways.

Shikamaru gave a glance to the man who moved stools._ '...Bet that guy doesn't have to deal with shit like this...'_ He pushed the Copy-ninja and the medic aside. There was nothing they could do until they got to Konoha.

He spent the next hour and a half having one too many beers, which was the fifth by his count. The shadow-user wanted to go home. He wanted to forget about this. He wanted to visit Kurenai, eat barbecue with Choji and even listen to Ino prattle on about how great she was at her mind technique. He missed the air in Konoha, the smell of the flowers outside of his window and the sound of the leaves rustling in the breeze as he would walk to visit Asuma's grave.

"Shikamaru" a scrappy voice pulled him from his silent reverie and he turned to see who it was. No-one was there. He stared at his beer; he had never had this kind before. He wondered what the side effects could possibly be.

"Genius...down here"

He dropped his gaze down and locked eyes with a surly smash faced pug. "Pakkun."

"The one and only. Kakashi and Sakura want to talk to you."

His face must have betrayed his overwhelming feeling of absolutely not wanting to do that at all because the pug added. "...It's really important."

"It always is..." he frowned and stood up, the floor rudely shifted under his feet and he had to place a hand on the counter to steady himself.

"Are you drunk?" Pakkun sniffed him.

Shikamaru pushed the smashed face away with his toe. "Are you? Stop sniffing me..."

"Do you use lotion?"

The shadow-user grimaced. Gods he hated Pakkun sometimes. He could be such a jerk. "I hold my hands like this a lot when I'm training..." He pushed his hands together as he normally did with his shadow jutsu. "...I don't like it when they are dry."

"So you use strawberry lotion?" If the dog could smirk, he would have been.

Shikamaru refused to meet the ninken's eyes and walked past slowly, trying to look not drunk. He could hear the little toes clicking irritatingly behind him as he made his way back to the rooms. _'So I like the smell of strawberries...what's the problem with that?'_

* * *

Sakura cut her eyes at her door as a light knock sounded on the other side. Sure now he knocks. "It's open."

The big shadow strolled in looking disheveled, Pakkun behind him.

"He's been drinking." The pug tattled.

The Nara glared at the dog and tried to kick him. Pakkun scampered by and sat in between Kakashi's feet, unharmed.

Shikamaru turned, shut the door and locked it. '_What a pain...Really these two should start locking their doors...'_

The medic rolled her eyes at the door-locker and walked over to him, sliding a hand over his stomach as he jumped in his skin and wheeled around quickly. "We can't do this if you're drunk. Be still." She let her chakra seep into him and aided his liver in the breakdown of all the impurities it was trying to deal with. After she was assured he was well on his way to a hangover, she nodded in approval and walked over to stand by Kakashi.

"What's up?" The not buzzed now shadow-user asked unhappily and sat down on the bed facing them.

"Shikamaru...we think there is a traitor in Konoha." Sakura whispered the copy-ninjas fingers entwined with hers on the arm of the chair he sat in.

Shikamaru's mind grabbed the information and popped it into the picture he had been trying to put together. It fit perfectly. He sighed and dropped his face into his hands. "Fuck...You two didn't tell Naruto yet did you?"

* * *

Naruto felt exhausted. He had been gone all day long. He had helped Gaara write out several offers of alliance treaties. He had represented Konoha in a heated debate, that hadn't come anywhere close to a conclusion. He had visited the Suna academy, forming bonds with the young sand shinobi of the future and checking the students that would be in the chunnin exams. He had listened to several of Suna's high level clan members that were more than willing to take on a husband or wife from one of Konoha's prestigious clans. Of course just to strengthen the alliance between the countries. Not to get their hands on any new Kekkei-genkai._ '... bullshit...'_

"Naruto!" someone croaked at him.

He looked down at his summon and a chill ran up his spine. "What are you doing here?" He looked around the dark street, his muscles tensing. Something wasn't right.

"Naruto, get the team and come to the pond. Tsunade needs to talk to you."

"...Tell me what happened..." he demanded, his blood running hot with unease. What was going on? He wasn't supposed to contact Tsunade for another hour.

"I can't tell you Naruto. Get them and come. Quickly." The toad turned and retreated back to where he came from.

Naruto spun around and ran toward his comrades.

* * *

**A/N**

_Did you hear it? That was my title dropping 20 chapters into the story. XD_

_I have to be honest. I fuckin' loved writting this chap..._

_ "Review if you feel like it..." Ninken ears said in lazy tone as she prepared to get up and start her day. _


	21. The weight of trust

_**The weight of trust**_

* * *

"No, we didn't." Kakashi answered in regards to Shikamaru's question about Naruto.

"Good..." Shikamaru sighed into his hands. At least they didn't have to worry about that. Naruto was a bomb type Shinobi. The threat of him, the power of him, and the common knowledge of what he can do when he feels like it, would be enough to send their quarry to hole. They needed the enemy to be brave and unaware. Blissfully ignorant.

"Or Hinata." Sakura added, shifting to sit on the arm of the chair Kakashi was in, drawing his hand to her lap.

'_Hinata...Hyuuga...big clan, lots of fingers wanting to grab at everything...Hinata and Naruto...she tells him everything...she can't lie...what ninja can't lie? Hinata can't...nope definitely leave Hinata out of the loop...What a pain.'_ The Shadow-user lifted his face from his palms, his eyes glancing over at the copy-ninja and the medic sitting so very close together. '_...and then there's that...' _He felt tired, and probably hung over.

"In Tani they knew we were going to meet with the Hokage, we thought it was a leak in Suna. We've been keeping track of who we talk to, searching and waiting-" Sakura explained.

"What else?" Shikamaru slid his hands together. It helped him think.

Sakura jumped slightly and threw out an arm as if the fact was right in front of her. "He knew Sai's name!...Umm...Norio. The-"

Kakashi's eyes alighted. Yes he remembered too. They had both been so hazy, so drugged at the time, but he did remember. "He said he knew Sai was dead. He said he knew Tsunade sent us and he knew we were looking in on the merchants..." The copy ninja was disgusted with his oversight. He tilted his head and stared at the floor as if trying to listen to something very far away. "How did I miss that...?"

Shikamaru waved away the copy-ninja's self degrading question. "It doesn't matter. You were both in a high stress environment and under the effects of drugs. What is important is what we do now."

"We need to get home." The medic swiveled her head to the man at her side. "We can't do this from here." Despite her urgent haste to return home, she suddenly felt very heavy. A weight was crushing down on her shoulders. She had to go home, she had to help Konoha, but then she would have to face an unsure future with her silver-haired Jounin. A glimmer of fear etched its way deep into her soul and made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. It was coming. She squeezed his hand in hers and tried to memorize the feel of it in her own. It wouldn't be there for much longer.

Kakashi met his medic's gaze and saw the uncertainty flash through her eyes, paralleling the way he felt. His brain, filled with grief and concern for the village he was sworn to protect, was violently rejecting the way his emotions were clinging to the pink haired Kunoichi. He didn't want to go, not all of him. When she gripped his hand he forced a tight smile, his eye creasing with the facade of assurance while his heart sank into his stomach and he swallowed past the worry in his throat. "Sakura...Konoha needs us." It was the only thing he could think of to say that wouldn't be a lie.

She nodded in understanding and agreement. Konoha came first and she always would.

Pakkun pressed himself against the leg of his longtime partner. He could feel it like it was alive. The fear the mask-man was repressing had filled the air around him. He hated to see his summoner so upset. Even if he wouldn't tell anyone, a dog knows. It made his skin crawl and his gut clench with need to act. But there was no enemy for him to find here. The enemy was waiting in Konoha, and Konoha was waiting to deal out justice to the Medic and the Jounin for breaching protocol. There was nothing for him to do.

Shikamaru had closed his eyes and was thinking. _'...How do we get home without raising suspicions...Sakura is still working on the jutsu with Hinata...we have no legitimate reason...Tsunade won't want us to leave them here alone-'_

Kakashi stood up quickly and moved from Sakura's side in an instant. "Naruto's coming."

The room froze for a second as they all eyed each other with hesitation. They were about to lie to their trusted friend. A man who would never lie to them. It didn't sit well with any of them.

The door was almost ripped off the hinges as the Kyuubi flung it open, tearing the lock right off. Naruto stared at his friends, a grim line set in his usually eager face. "...Where's Hinata? She's not in her room."

They all searched the room, even though they were all three aware that the Hyuuga wasn't present. Before they even had a chance to answer, Naruto closed his eyes and breathed deeply, concentrating as he slipped into Sage-mode to look for the calm pulse of light he associated with Hinata. As he searched for her, another situation did not go unnoticed. He cracked his eyes open and glanced at Sakura. "Why are you all so nervous?"

Kakashi was already on edge because of the way the orange monster attacked the door. Really he couldn't have just knocked to see if Hinata was in the room? Then as his subordinate locked in on all of their combined anxiety, his heart started to leap wildly in his chest. He shrugged nonchalantly, trying to play it off while he tucked his hands in his pockets, trying to hide the warm guilty hand that was just entangled with Sakura's._ '...Senjutsu...he can feel us...calm down Hatake...he's going to know something's up...' _

'_Oh...shit...why are we all nervous?...because we are all hiding a huge...no two huge secrets from you...and you would literally explode if we told you...' _Shikamaru decided the copy-ninja was onto something and that a shrug was the best way to go about this situation. So he lifted his shoulders to his ears and tried to think up a believable lie. "Tschh ..." Was as far as he got. He still got farther than Kakashi.

Sakura scoffed incredulously at her blonde teammate, getting his blue eyes off of the two useless men in the room with her that just sat there, shrugged, and looked guilty as sin. "Naruto! You just **ran** into my room and** broke my door!**! You're freaking everyone out! **What is wrong with you!?"**

A ping of clarity scampered into Naruto's mind and he held up his hand to thwart Sakura's outburst. "I found her. We have to go. I don't know what's going on, Tsunade sent one of the toads out in the middle of Suna to find me...and he told me to get you all."

That was all they needed to cause a fault line of panic to spread under them all. Why would Tsunade need to talk to them **all**? The scheduled contact time with Naruto was in a hour. Anything that couldn't wait sixty minutes did not bode well for anyone.

* * *

Tsunade sat down on her knees at the edge of the pond. She had gone as soon as Shizune reported that Naruto and everyone in Suna was waiting for her to contact them. _'...What do I do?...Do we need Naruto here? Do I need to depend on him this much? Should the team stay in Suna to keep working on the Jutsu we need? If I tell Naruto...he's going to come home...what do I do? ' _Her pen hovered over the paper as she tried to word what was happening.

"_Fire has been attacked. Several Villages have been destroyed by an unknown enemy. Have you heard about this in Wind?" _Tsunade wrote. Feeling the best way was to be direct about the situation.

The scratchy familiar scrawl of Konoha's copy-ninja was pulled from the toads mouth a few minutes later. She imagined Naruto was too worked up to reply. The future Hokage still needed to get over control on his emotions, it was one of his only flaws. It just happened to also be one of his greatest assets._ "We haven't heard anything. What do we know? How many villages? Do we come back to Konoha? Do you want us to go to the sites? "_

"_Five villages, completely destroyed. All civilian villages. Attacked in a coordinated effort across Fire. Several enemies, several different methods of killing. They were all slaughtered. No messages left. No warnings. Nothing but the dead." _Tsunade replied.

The next message came in the swirling loop of perfection known by the Hyuuga clan. _Tsunade-sama. We are still working on the jutsu to break the rogue-ninja you have in the prison, but neither me nor Sakura have mastered it. We still need time. If we leave now, without a reason, the clan elders will take it as an offense. Of course we will return if you ask and help protect Fire. Our home comes first, always. _ Hinata had a deliberate and wary mind. No doubt blossoming from years of the inner politics of her clan.

The Hokage clicked her tongue against her teeth, thinking._ 'I need that Jutsu, that bastard knows something. He knows something about someone __and I need inside his head. No__ one has that kind of lock on their mind because they are keeping a ramen recipe secret.'_

"Naruto's calling me back." the toad croaked as Tsunade continued to think about her options.

The little creature resurfaced after a long while and The Sannin braced herself. _"We are coming home right now."_ Naruto's sloppy writing.

"_Shishou, do you want us to come back? What should we do?" _Sakura's tiny precise print.

"_Tsunade, we can split up; half of us can go back. We can check out any of the villages on the way in. We can leave Sakura or Hinata here to work on the Jutsu. And one of us can stay to escort them back."_ Shikamaru's downward sloping letters. He always saw a way out, a better way, the most logical solution.

It seemed the scroll was making the rounds in Suna. Everyone had questions and opinions for their Hokage.

"_I have more history with the clan, they would be happier with me. I can stay behind. It will only take about another week or so. I will work until I understand the concept and I can practice in Konoha before I use it. If that is ok with you Tsunade-sama." _ Hinata again.

"_We are__** ALL**__ coming home. We can't leave people alone; we can't split up while something like this is happening." _Naruto's bold lines screamed his frustration with his teammates from all the way across the countries that separated them.

"_Do you need Naruto? If not, I would suggest leaving him to escort Hinata. He is the mostttttttt-"_Well that was Kakashi, but what happened?

Tsunade dropped the scroll from her face and stared at Naruto's summon. "What is going on over there?"

"They are having a...disagreement. I just took what was written or you might have never gotten it. Hokage-sama." The toad squirmed awkwardly under the woman's piercing gaze.

* * *

"Naruto!" Sakura whispered harshly as she positioned herself in front of the Copy-ninja, her back brushing lightly against his chest. She could almost feel his lone eye narrowing over her shoulder at the blonde lunatic that had just shoved him and knocked the scroll from his hand. "Shikamaru is right! We can split up...you will only be a few days behind us." She kept her tone low, not wanting to alert any of the people in Suna."

'_Don't get me involved_...'

Too late. Naruto's eyes fell on the Nara accusingly. "You think we should split up? Is that best in this situation Shikamaru?"

"Yes, Naruto, I do. There hasn't been word of anything in Suna the entire time we've been here. The only thing that has happened is the notebook Kakashi and Sakura brought from Tani, and we've already translated it. There is no reason for us to be here besides the Jutsu." Shikamaru explained in a small whisper, as if it were obvious.

"And Hinata can figure it out, teach me the rest and practice with me when we are all home..." Sakura added.

"Why do you need to go too? Shouldn't you both be trying to work on the jutsu?" Naruto shifted his eyes to her.

The medic lost her footing for a second._ 'Why do I need to go...because I know something you don't and I'm lying to you... but I really just need to go home so I can help...' _Nope she couldn't say that.

The copy-ninja jumped in to assist his floundering medic. "She's the Hokage's apprentice Naruto. She has a duty to Tsunade, the same that you had to Jiraiya. Tsunade needs help, and Sakura is two countries away." Kakashi had to stop himself from letting his fingers drop lightly on the pink-haired woman's hip that stood so protectively in front of him. Gods she was amazing.

"No, I don't think this is what we should be doing..." Naruto shook his head defiantly.

"Naruto, calm down. You want to be Hokage; you need to start thinking like one...sometimes the best course of action is the less aggressive. We need the Jutsu. We're already here. You are on the best terms with Suna and Hinata is on the best terms with the clan. Once she masters the technique, she will need someone dependable and strong to ensure she makes it back to Konoha with the information she posses. Which one of us is better suited to do that, but you?" Kakashi ran his hand through his hair. He hated doing this; manipulating his friend, especially when he was already lying about half of his life.

"Naruto-kun...they are right. Sakura should go be with Tsunade. She is going to need help right now. I can work on the Jutsu here and teach it to Sakura once I get to Konoha." Hinata laid a hand on his arm softly. As always her lightest touch brought forth the swiftest obedience from the blue eyed man. "We need to think about what is going to be best for Fire."

Naruto closed his eyes and nodded his head. "I really don't think this is a good idea, but we have to see what Tsunade says."

"Good because she sent this back while you were arguing." Everyone turned to stare at the little summon perched on the side of the pond and the scroll in front of him.

Shikamaru, the closest to the scroll, bent down and picked it up. He slid his eyes over to the expectant group, his gaze lingering on the pink and silver haired shinobi_. 'I hope this is the right decision...and we aren't screwing ourselves by not telling Naruto and Hinata...' _ He dropped his eyes back to the words on the paper and then handed it off to Hinata. "She says you have two weeks to learn the Jutsu. If you don't have it down by then, you leave without it."

"And the rest of us?" Sakura inquired, watching Hinata read over the scroll she had just been given.

"Someone stays behind to go back with me in two weeks. Everyone else is ordered to return to Konoha." Hinata replied and placed the scroll in Naruto's outstretched fingers.

"Who stays with Hinata?" Kakashi asked, stepping up beside his medic and holding his hand out to Naruto.

"She says either you or me. Shikamaru goes back." Naruto dropped the scroll in the copy-ninja's palm with a sigh. A dark cloud of foreboding slipped over his shoulders and made his stomach twist in distress. He didn't like this. Separating was asking for trouble. They had already lost Sai and things would never be the same with Sasuke. He couldn't lose Sakura and Kakashi too. They were all he had for so many years and they never gave up on him.

Kakashi wrapped his fingers around the scroll and pulled it back to read, his eye rising slightly when Naruto wouldn't release it.

Naruto met the masked man's gaze and held it, a worried look stealing across his face. "I don't think this is a good idea Kakashi-sensei. Every time we split up something bad happens. At the campsite...then in Tani..." He shifted the scroll that they both held onto slightly and their eyes drifted down to stare at it. "...We can just write her back and tell her we don't think it's a good idea to separate..." He was on the verge of begging and his voice dripped with the hesitation he felt.

The copy-ninja's guilt almost swallowed him alive as his teammate pleaded for him to reconsider._ 'He's worried something is going to happen to us...and we are lying to him.'_

Sakura could see her Jounin crumbling under the weight of Naruto's concern. She put her hand on her blonde teammate's forearm as she spoke to him. They needed to get back home, and they also needed the Jutsu. This was the only way. If they told him the truth, there would be no way to keep him from Konoha. They needed time and subtlety. "Naruto, it's only two weeks-"

"You were only in Tani for two weeks..."

"This is different, we are just going home."

"Fire is being attacked by enemies we don't know. What if you-"

"We're all shinobi. We have to do what is best, no matter how it makes us feel..." She tried to address everyone's worries with her vague answer.

"I won't need the whole two weeks Naruto." Hinata added, trying to reassure the distraught man.

"This is the best way..." Shikamaru nodded back toward the rooms, anxiously.

Naruto released the scroll and shook his head. "Ok...I'll stay here with Hinata...if something happens to you guys though-"

Kakashi raised his arm and clasped his worried comrade on the shoulder, squeezing it slightly. "Something has already happened, that's why we need to go..." He told the half-truth and hoped that when Naruto found out about the traitor in Konoha, he would understand their reasons for keeping it a secret.

* * *

The Uchiha lay back on his lumpy discolored cot and stared at the stained ceiling. Every once in a while he would drag at his pent up chakra, immediately feeling the nauseas and draining effects of the metal seals that clung to him. It was a way to pass the time and at least it gave him the small comfort of knowing that he **did** still have chakra, even if he hadn't been able to access it for over a year.

A scuffling, sliding noise made him turn his head to glance out of the cell. They were bringing Kanta back. A handful of the guards had grabbed the big man a few hours ago and force marched him down the hall silently as he demanded to know what they wanted. Something was going on.

Kanta was shoved, tossed and thrown back toward his cell; looking much less defiant then he had a few hours ago and the guards looking much angrier. His high pitched chuckle echoed hoarsely and was cut short with a fist in his gut from one of the two masked Anbu that had joined the regular Shinobi guards. The door was slammed shut as the rogue-nin was knocked back into his little grey accommodations and the guards turned to walk back down the corridor.

One of the masked bouncers paused outside of the cell door and Sasuke could only assume he was being stared at.

"What?"

"Uchiha Sasuke...Come with me." A familiar voice beckoned him coldly.

Sasuke sat up on the cot and raised a brow toward the hidden face. Whatever curiosities he had about what was going on with Kanta were about to be answered. He was sure of it. "Why?" he asked with an irritated scowl. He kept to his roll of insubordinate, uncooperative traitor; nobody was supposed to guess his true reason for being locked back in The Six.

"We have some questions to ask you." The door to his cell swung open and the Anbu stepped inside.

"Hyuuga, I don't have any answers for you."

Neji let the remark fall off his back as he moved into the cell to grab Sasuke's arm roughly and pull him up. "We'll ask you anyways..."

Sasuke stood, twisting his arm out of Neji's grip, scorn dripping from his lips. "I can walk by myself."

"For now..." Kanta's tiny voice seethed its way from across the hall to the ears of the two men in Sasuke's cell.

"I believe you know the way." Neji nodded his head down the hall where the other men were waiting for him outside the door.

"Yeah, I remember." Sasuke sighed and resigned himself for what was to come.

* * *

Sakura let her eyes travel around the little room she had lived in while she was in Suna. They had spent the last day and a half getting ready to leave. She had to have spent at least five hours apologizing to the clan leaders that were teaching her the Jutsu, claiming only that an urgent mission required her to return to Konoha as Tsunade's apprentice. It wasn't a lie.

They had spent another few hours with Gaara trying their best to avoid details of what was happening, but giving enough to explain their quick departure. It didn't really matter; if he didn't know already, he would soon. There was always Sand Shinobi somewhere in Fire.

As soon as Naruto had offered to stay in Suna with Hinata the reply was sent to Tsunade. She approved and told them to return as soon as possible. The next thing they had done was arrange a check point system with the toad summons from Suna to Konoha. It was a pain in the ass, but this way Naruto could keep in contact with his comrades as they passed through Wind, River and Fire. He never wanted to be stuck in a situation like he was when they lost contact in Tani. If Shikamaru, Kakashi and herself were all going home, Naruto would do his best to make sure they made it there safely.

With everyone racing around, trying to tie up loose ends in Suna, the three traitor-seekers had hardly been offered a chance to discuss what they were all thinking _'...Are the traitor and the attacks on Fire somehow related...?'_ There was no link, no evidence and no motive that they were aware off. But it still was at the forefront of all their minds.

The medic stared at her small bag full of supplies and sat down on the edge of the bed, smoothing her hand over the blankets. A more personal sorrow and frustration crept up on her through the cracks in her distress over Konoha. This was the bed she had sat in and worried about Kakashi after they had escaped Norio in Tani. This was the bed they had lain in together, that night when the fireworks went off and everything changed. This was the bed he had stood next to, held her and asked her not to give up on them.

Now they were leaving. They were going home.

The warm spread of happiness the thought usually brought her was absent and in its place was a void of anxiety. She would have to go back, face her friends and wonder if they were enemies. She didn't want to discover the truth; just the knowledge of the betrayer in her home was enough to wound her. Someone had deliberately attacked herself and Kakashi in Tani. Someone was responsible for what happened to Sai. And it was someone they knew.

The pink-haired woman turned her head as her door opened quietly.

"Yo...you have a minute?" Kakashi asked as he peeked into his medic's room, his chest feeling tighter the second he laid his eye on her sitting on the end of her bed, looking so lost in thought. She was afraid and he couldn't help her. He couldn't even help himself.

She nodded quietly to his strange question. She always had a minute for him, he could have them all. "Everything ok?" She found herself asking stupidly.

"Uh..." Kakashi shrugged. _'No...not really...nothing is ok.'_ That answer wouldn't help anyone so he skipped over the question and let the door swing open wider. "Shikamaru wants to talk..."

Shikamaru would have felt vaguely offended by the upset look on Sakura's face as she laid eyes on him, if he had not completely understood why. _'Shit, I don't even want to look at myself these days...I can't imagine how they feel about me...' _The Nara slid into the room behind Kakashi. Regardless of how he or his two teammates felt about him, they needed to get some things settled.

Sakura bit her lip and glanced at the spot on the bed next to her, willing it to become filled with a certain masked man that always somehow smelled like dirt, dogs or old books, except when he was fresh from the shower. Her body relaxed slightly as her hopes came true and he plopped down beside her, one of his hands resting on the bed behind her and his forearm resting gently against her back.

Shikamaru's eyes landed on the two rule-breakers and exhaled deeply as Sakura leaned slightly into the copy-ninja's side. So subtle, yet so obvious. And one hundred percent still too new and strange for him to be comfortable with. Even if they weren't in each other's arms, they wanted to be. He could almost taste it in the air. '_Breaching protocol...right in front of my eyes...kind of...I guess it doesn't matter since I already know...and that doesn't matter because...' _he cleared his throat and grimaced. "If there is a traitor in Konoha, we need to find out who. When we tell Tsunade, she's going to want to keep this as quiet as possible. Using us will be her best option."

Two sets of eyes watch the Shadow-user as he lounged back against the edge of the dresser in the room. Both waiting expectantly as he spoke about things they already knew, and waiting for something they didn't.

Shikamaru continued. "So, I think we should wait to tell her about this..." He deliberately stared at the miniscule area of space that separated their bodies. "...situation. If you tell her she will be forced to act in a disciplinary measure and I can't run the risk of trying to do this alone." He knew it for a fact. He had drawn up a mental probability chart, having the copy-ninja and the Hokage's apprentice assisting would greatly increase the chances of success in this mole hunt. They could both access areas and ask questions he could not. When you go to war you must use every available resource. He needed them.

Kakashi felt the heavy burden on his back lift just a bit. Like a prisoner that just learned his execution had been put off for another few days. The tight knot between his shoulders he hadn't even known was there, loosened to some extent. The empty feeling of loss he was so familiar with shrunk ever so slightly. _'...It's just an extension Hatake...not a pass...'_ It didn't matter. It was something. It was a few more days. It was a few more days of being around her and working with her toward a combined goal. They would get to Konoha and find the traitor. Maybe _that _would prove their loyalty and their dedication in putting Konoha first. That could be the counter-weight they needed to balance the scales of their derelictions. Hope grew in his chest despite his wariness of such feelings. He found himself sliding his arm around her waist, a small grin tugging the corner of his eye.

Sakura's green eyes found the copy-ninja's dark one as he pulled her closer to him. His relief was palpable and contagious. She had felt the chopping block under her head and seen the shadow of the sword from above the closer they got to returning home. She had known she was going to lose him. Known they would be torn apart. Now, she knew nothing, and it cleared her mind of so much worry. "What do you think?" She spoke just above a whisper, directing her question at Kakashi.

"We'll find the traitor, and then tell Tsunade about us..." He had never thought a traitor in his village would bring him even the tiniest bit of happiness. He had been wrong.

"Maybe if we can do this... do you think it will help...with us?" She turned her eyes to Shikamaru as her thoughts came to the same conclusion Kakashi's had. Her grim outlook on the future getting a few shades brighter the more she thought about it.

Shikamaru shrugged, refusing to bolster their hopes no matter how desperately they grasped at it. "It could. The most important thing is to get to Konoha and find out who's doing it and why."

Kakashi nodded. His logic agreed with Shikamaru. Everything rested on finding the snake in Konoha. Everything. "We'll find out who's doing it, and why...We have the advantage here.

Sakura counted off their obvious disadvantages on her fingers, pessimism causing her lips to press into a tight line. "Do we? The enemy knows we have the notebook, where we are and knows our skill set and techniques...They know-"

"Yes..." Kakashi grabbed her hand that was running out of fingers for her to label. "But whoever it is doesn't know we translated the text and have seen through the code. Whoever it is will not be hiding from us while we search for them."

"We will drop false information about what we have discovered... Naruto and Hinata will back up our story with their plausible deniability when they get home." Shikamaru added.

"When do we leave?" Sakura asked.

"Naruto went with Hinata to smooth over the rough edges you caused with the clan elders. Then he is contacting Tsunade. He asked us to wait for him to get back before we leave." Shikamaru answered.

"...Just a few hours." Kakashi simplified the answer the detail oriented man gave as his eye slipped from the shadow-user and found his medic once again. They never had enough time together. He missed her even when she was so close.

"You guys have everything all ready to go?" The Nara asked as his eyes scraped across the very neat looking room and dropped on a single bag by his feet.

"Yeah..." Sakura looked at her bag too and tried to ignore the gentle way the copy-ninja's fingers had found their way under the fabric of her shirt, rubbing along her back. The grazing of his calloused hand against her skin was becoming very distracting. Since Shikamaru had caught them together, they had almost no physical contact besides brief touches and embraces. It was maddening. He was always right here with her, but never close enough.

Shikamaru continued to stare at the bag because he was not going to look at the two on the bed. His eyes narrowed and his brow creased. It was starting to get weird in here. He needed to say something to stop the weirdness in its tracks. His pulse was starting to speed up and he was feeling a little warm. "Kakashi, are you going to have the pack travel with us whe-"

"Shikamaru, get out. Kakashi motioned toward the door, his eyes sticking to the Kunoichi beside him. If they only had a few hours before they left, he wanted to make the most of it. He might not get another chance.

The Nara felt relieved at being dismissed so abruptly. He spun around and walked toward the door. He hesitated before he opened it. _'...it would be a pain if they got caught right before we leave...' _He laid his hand on the knob and winced, not believing what he was about to say. "Lock the door, don't be loud, I'll leave my door open and warn you when Naruto and Hinata come back..." He felt like a mom. No, he felt like a dad. His mom would never do something like this._ 'In this situation...my mom would be Naruto and Hinata...my dad would've been me...and I would be Kakashi and Sakura would be...' _He drew a blank. Shit he really needed to find a girlfriend.

The soft sound of muffled laughter followed him out of the door. The sound of rules about to be broken. Somewhere deep down, where the Shadow-user refused to acknowledge, the noise of his two teammate's soft laughs warmed him and a rogue smile threatened to pull on his face. He fought it with a shake of his head and told himself he just had to sneeze.

* * *

Yori slid to a lazy walk, scowling at the intense itch in his right palm where that little Nobu prick cut him a few weeks ago. "What the fuck is it now? I told them it would be a few days...it's only been two."

"Feelin' tired bendy?" Mitsuo asked as he too dropped to a walk beside his team leader.

"Hey I thought we weren't going to stop 'till tonight?" Shinchai asked, bringing up the rear and flipping her bag off her back easily to peek inside, a tiny mew answered her curious gaze. "He loves it in there...it's like a nest..." she grinned at the tiny kitten that was wormed inside the bundle of cloth Mitsuo had created for him.

Yori shook his head and held out his palm in response to their questions before pulling the scroll from his back pocket.

"_Yori, where is your team now." _

Yori shrugged in dismay and glanced around at the trees, the rocks and the sky. "We're in the fuckin' middle of nowhere you dick." He needed a drink, real bad. "Where are we Mitsuo?" he asked gruffly as he rubbed his eyes.

The fire user frowned, squinted around at their surroundings and the sun in the sky before he grabbed the map out of his pocket. He laid the map on the ground and held it there with his knee as he trailed his finger along the path they had been on. He ran his hand through his spiky hair while he determined their location. " Uhh...we are here..." He tapped the spot on the map. "...About fifty or sixty miles east-northeast of Sasebo. We really need to get going, we're still way too close."

"I fuckin' know that!" Yori bit out in irritation. He pulled out a pen and then looked at the scroll. His annoyance tripled as his jaw clenched. He exhaled deeply and turned to the demolition expert. "Shinchai, turn around…I need something to write on."

Shinchai pursed her lips but acquiesced. Yori was a real asshole when he didn't have a drink and they really didn't have time to have any sort of internal melt down when they were most likely being searched for by Fire Shinobi.

"_We are about fifty miles east-northeast of Sasebo, about four days or so from the rendezvous." _Yori jotted out their location sloppily on his teammates back.

"_Your team is the closest; we have another job for you."_

"You've got to be fuckin' kidding me..." He whispered to the words on the paper. "They want us to do another job." He told his silent comrades.

"I thought we were 'spose to meet all the other teams. " Shinchai asked, glancing over her shoulder to the tall man writing on her back.

"We are." Yori sighed deeply and began scribbling on the paper._ "What do you want us to do? Another town?_"

"_No. Nothing so big. Just consider it damage control for an earlier mistake. We just received some information and your team is already in a perfect place to handle it."_

Yori clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. Extra work meant extra money and if they were already in place, well it would be easy enough. _"This extra job is going to put us behind and we are already in a dangerous position and low on supp-"_ His words were cut off before he could finish making his argument.

"_You will all be compensated properly for your additional services once you arrive at the meeting place."_

The promise of money sealed the deal. "We got another job to do." He announced to the two people that were for once, waiting patiently for him to speak. _"So what would you like us to do for you exactly?" _ He handed Shinchai the scroll that was on her back as the mission details started rolling across the paper. "Here, tell me what it says when they're done." He had something to do while they waited.

Shinchai raised a brow and took the scroll as Yori began searching through his own pack, soon emerging with his bottle of liquor. "That shit's goin' to kill you...you got a problem..."

Mitsuo was already up, putting away his map and nervously looking at the forest surrounding them. "Fuck...I can't believe we're not moving out. This place is going to be crawling with leaf nin." He casteed a glance at their scruffy team leader. "Maybe you should cut back; we need to be on alert."

Yori felt himself relax as he swallowed a few gulps of his burning liquid. He met the fire-users anxious expression, held his gaze and took another swig, challenging him to say something against it again.

"Hey, I bet you fifty percent of my cut you can't guess what they want us to do..." Shinchai dangled the scroll with a wry smirk on her face.

Mitsuo's arm shot out and he grabbed the scroll from her fingers, earning himself a glare from both of his teammates. Yori was more than willing to take a shot at guessing, if he could get half of her cut.

The fire-user's dark eyes scanned the details and his frown grew more pronounced. "Aww...man...we're going to be here for days waiting." Fuck, he hated waiting.

Yori plucked the scroll from Mitsuo's limp fingers and traced his eyes over the unexpected assignment. He stared up impassively at the blonde woman and took another sip of his drink. "...Would've lost that bet." He was really getting way too old for this shit.

"We have the advantage at least." Shinchai tried to cheer everyone up. The guys were both looking pretty down about the new assignment.

"We do _not_ have the advantage." Mitsuo kicked at a rock like an impudent child.

"We will never have the advantage against this..." Yori rolled his shoulders, picked up the pen and tapped one of the words on the paper to show the two others. He flipped the pen around and wrote out the confirmation that he understood the orders, while simultaneously dishing out his own to his subordinates. "Get your fuckin' cat. We need to find somewhere to hole up for a few days, while we receive the updates."

* * *

Sasuke exhaled past the pain in his ribs. So far he hadn't provided the Anbu with the answers they wanted to hear. He had already told them everything he knew a long time ago. Something happened though, that much was evident. Anbu don't just grab traitors and rogue shinobi from their cells and ask them questions about possible terrorist acts because they got bored. Anbu were disciplined and precise; they did nothing without cause. Though as far as ass kicking went, he had definitely had worse.

And that's what made him notice it. The Hyuuga, for all his show, as he beat and questioned the Uchiha traitor, wasn't hurting him as much as he could; as much as he should be. His comrades however were knocking the shit out of him. Neji though, who had mostly taken over the abuse department of the questioning, had a distinctly lighter hand.

The reason behind the gentle-fist ass-kicking made itself known as the Hyuuga turned toward the other men in the room, his voice even and monotone. "We're done with him, he has nothing for us. Report to Mizuki-san and to the Hokage our findings."

The two other Anbu nodded silently and were gone seconds later.

Neji turned back to Sasuke, his face hidden behind the stoic mask, and began removing the chains that held him in place. His voice eased toward Sasuke's ear in a barely audible whisper. "I am aware of your assignment here in the six from Tsunade-sama."

"What do you-?" Sasuke didn't get to finish his question as Neji's arm cracked against the side of his face, and the taste of blood slipped over his tongue.

"Do not speak, you had nothing to offer when we were asking you questions. Do not speak now." His deep voice echoed around the room.

Sasuke scowled, more than confused at the Hyuuga's bipolar temperament.

Neji's voice was again a small whisper as he reached around to unclasp another cuff. "Uchiha, listen and do not talk...There are guards outside the doors that can put me here to help. Fire has been attacked. She believes the man in the cell across from you knows something. After questioning him myself, I think she is right."

Sasuke spit out a trail of blood and his lips moved only slightly as he formed his quiet reply. "How can you help..."

"I just did...know you have something to talk to him about. You've both been beaten and questioned about attacks on Fire. When I stand watch, I will keep the other guard with me distracted. You will have a few hours without interruption."

As the last binding was removed Sasuke stumbled forward slightly and was caught by the masked Hyuuga. "Thanks Neji..." He had never particularly cared for the long haired byakugan user. Looks like that was one more thing he had been wrong about.

"Do not thank me. It is my duty, and yours, to protect Fire. You must get him to speak." Neji pulled the door open and shoved him roughly back toward his cell in the sight of the guards.

* * *

"We need to get up." Sakura whispered as she traced her fingers gently along Kakashi's tattered abdomen. The only response she received was a slight tightening of his hand around her back. He was still asleep. She hated to wake him; he was so different asleep. The bogged down feeling of guilt and pressure she could feel always wrapped around him was gone. His face was relaxed, his breathing even. A sharp tormenting pain slipped into her chest the more she watched him, lost in his easy slumber

'_Gods why does he have to make me feel like this...' _It was killing her. She was happy one minute, and devastated the next. He made her worries fall away and her heart fill up with a warmth she had been missing for so long. But he was the cause of a lot of those worries and he was also the empty feeling of despair that was locked deep in her stomach. He gave her everything she never knew she wanted, and he could take it all away.

'_Gods don't cry...'_ She blinked her eyes tightly and looked toward the ceiling to ward off any tears. A small despondent, sullen collection of emotion slipped down her cheek in obstinate refusal to obey. She wiped away the stupid little teardrop and leaned down to press a kiss to the copy-ninja's chest, her arm stretching out to wrap around his waist and pull herself closer to him.

Kakashi inhaled deeply and lifted a groggy eyelid, reflexively squeezing the Kunoichi plastered to his side. His hand slid under the tank top she had put on to rub against the smooth skin of her back and hip. His eye drifted closed again as he tried to shift through the haze of contentment toward words. "...Time is it?...How long was I asleep."

"Only about thirty minutes." She cleared her throat to disperse any hint of the sadness she had been feeling.

His eye re-opened and focused on the top of Sakura's head that was resting on his chest. She sounded upset. _' Of course she's upset Hatake...' _Reality hit him; his brief dance with happiness was cut short and he again took up worry as a partner. "Hey..." He reached his hand down to pull her chin up to him.

Sakura blinked and let his hand guide her face up to look at him, his lips twisted in concern as she raised her brows in question "Hnn?"

A tug of guilt weighed him down as he ran his thumb over the faded scars by her eyes. The eyes that were brimming with tears she pretended weren't there. "Sakura...it'll be ok..." He pushed himself up on his elbow as he spoke to her.

"Kakashi, I'm worried about Konoha and Fire, and about lying to Naruto. About getting Shikamaru in trouble...About what will happen between us..." Her voiced cracked as she spoke. Now that she said it all out loud, it was becoming close to impossible not to burst into tears. The tight knot of emotion in her throat was hard to swallow but she forced it down. She wanted to tell him something else. She needed to let him know something so important. But a quiet fear stopped her short and she closed her mouth, the silence dragging on.

The copy-ninja's heart, whatever it was worth after all the mistakes, regrets and guilt he had put it through in his life, cracked slightly in the wake of his brave little medic's confession. He leaned toward her, his fingers pulling her to his face and pressed his lips to hers softly. He didn't know what to say to make her feel better; he felt the same way she did. So he tried to erase her doubts with his kiss; tried to explain how he felt about her and how he didn't know what he would do if she wasn't there. He hoped she understood, even just a little.

He pulled away from her mouth after a few moments and laid his forehead against hers, closing his eyes. "...We'll get through it...all of it." He wanted to say 'together' but couldn't bring himself to, because he just didn't know. He wanted to tell her so much more, but this wasn't the right place and there was too much else at stake. It wouldn't be right to burden her with his selfish desires and feelings.

Sakura closed her eyes as well, inhaling deeply, breathing in his familiar scent and feeling his fingers brush against her face. In the few quiet moments when their lips had touched, all she could think of was losing him. It was bittersweet and when it ended her chest hurt, and despair rolled in like a thick fog, clouding her emotions. So she only nodded in response to his vague whispered reassurances and sighed. They had bigger problems to worry about; their time in Suna together was over. "We need to get up. Naruto will be here soon..."

Kakashi only pulled his medic a little tighter to him as she began to disappear behind the walls of duty. She was right, they needed to get up. When he opened his eyes to agree with her, he met her gaze and stilled as she ran her thumb over the thin scar in his lips, a strange remorseful smile playing on her mouth.

"Guess I won't see this for a while..." She whispered before she pulled herself up out of bed and walked to the bathroom.

The Jounin watched her walk away and dragged himself up too, sitting for a minute on the edge of the bed, pulling on his clothes and listening to the water turn on in the shower. _'Ok...we need to get home...' _He stood and moved to leave the room. Before he fully opened the door, a knife of panic cut deep in his chest. He turned around, hastily yanked off the generic black cloth hitai-ate from his face and went back to lay it on the top of her bag. He stared at it, feeling more than a little ridiculous for his child like offering. _'...Just pick it up. You're still going to see her Hatake...you're going home together, to work together...the world isn't coming to an end.'_

* * *

"Tsunade-sama."

The Hokage closed her eyes. It seemed like every time she turned around, someone had something to tell her. None of it was ever good. She braced herself for more bad news. "Yes?" her eyes popped open as she asked the question.

TenTen forced an awkward smile and shuffled toward the tired, worn out looking woman behind the desk. "I'm sorry Tsunade-sama, I was on my way here and Otari-san asked me to bring this to you. " She handed over a sealed scroll, which the Sannin promptly took and opened.

'_Tsunade-Sama, the Daimyo is requesting to speak with you immediately. There are many questions that need to be answered. ~ Otari Takashi.'_

"Thank you TenTen, you may go." Her head was beginning to throb painfully as she read over the scroll again that the council elder had sent. Yes, there were many questions, and she didn't have any answers. She only had more questions. That wouldn't make the Daimyo happy.

The weapon expert bowed politely and left, only to be passed on her way out by another person moving into the room to speak with their Hokage.

"Hokage-sama."

"Shizune?" Tsunade looked toward her friend that had just stepped in. She had been absent nearly all day.

The short haired women slid a few papers across the desk toward the Hokage. "These were -"

"Hokage-sama." Another voice interrupted Shizune's attempt at explanation.

Tsunade's eyes left the pieces of paper she had yet to inspect and dropped on the Senior anbu that had just entered. "Akihisa?"

"There have already been several requests for escort missions throughout Fire. The civilians are scared to travel now and want protection. It's only be two days and word is spreading quickly...I'm not sure how you want to handle this. We are still waiting for a majority of the teams to report back and are thin on manpower."

Tsunade rubbed her brow in thought. The people were scared, she was short on Shinobi, she was in the midst of organizing a division to track down the enemy and teams had been sent to the villages to report back on anything they could find. The Daimyo wanted answers, she had none. She took a deep breath, picked up the paper Shizune had passed her and tried to come up with a solution for all the world's problems.

It was another small flyer, blue this time. It showed a very aged looking Tsunade, standing as proudly as she could and scanning the horizon while a town burned directly behind her. A few ninja label 'leaf' stood beside her, attempting to point her in the right direction. At the bottom it read. 'Have no fear, your Hokage is here.'

Anger boiled up inside of her as she slammed her fist on the desk and it buckled in duress. "Have you found the idiots behind these **Mizuki**?!" She addressed the Anbu captain formally in her rage.

The captain furrowed his brow, thoroughly offended at the way he was being spoken too. "Hokage-Sama. We have been very busy... maybe when we have more shinobi back in Konoha..."

Shizune's eyes brightened slightly as she tried to distract the stressed Hokage. "Tsunade, Sakura will be back soon. That will help a lot with organizing the medics..."

The idea of seeing her long missed apprentice did in fact cool her anger slightly. She had missed the little pink hair monster and worried about her after the ordeal in Tani.

"...And Hatake-san and Shikamaru...they will both be extremely helpful, along with the rest of the teams that are moving back toward Konoha right now." Akihisa added with a curt nod, still pissed about the verbal assault he had just endured.

"Yes, ok..." Tsunade nodded and organized her thoughts. "Besides Naruto and Hinata in Suna and the few shinobi too deep undercover to pull out...Sakura's team should be the last back, arriving in just under two weeks." She repeated the same line she had given during the debriefing this morning with all the council members and team leaders in Konoha.

The Sannin pinched the bridge of her nose as she continued. "Give me some time to think about the escort requests Akihisa...I need to speak with the Daimyo first. Shizune, get me that report I asked for on our stocks and supplies..." She crumpled up the little blue paper. "And this will have to wait."

Both people bowed in response to their Hokage's command and left to attend to their assigned tasks.

Tsunade stood, feeling as old as she looked in the insubordinate little comic strip. She had hardly slept since the attacks on Fire. It didn't matter. The Enemy never rested and neither could she.

She pulled the map out of her drawer and laid it on the table, running her fingers over the dots that signified all the different team locations across the countries. Her eyes fell on a small trail of orange dots.

The orange trail was Naruto's set up contacts with his Summons and the three leaf ninjas that were probably leaving Suna right now. It was a fantastic idea, one she would have to figure out a way to replicate. She had already requested this morning at the meeting that some people start working on a way to track each team's progress like Naruto was doing. With this sort of check in system, responses to teams in trouble could be lessened significantly. If they could keep track of each individual team as they traveled, it could prove an invaluable tool. They would need more tools like that if they were going to war.

The shadow of threat hung low over her head as she stared at the map. _'...How can we survive another war?'_

* * *

The five Konoha shinobi stopped a few yards outside of the village hidden in the sand. The crushing weight of the unsaid passing between them all as three of them shouldered their packs a little more securely.

Naruto was the first to speak, as always. The responsibility he felt toward his two team members splintered his resolve slightly. He should be going back with them. Fire was in trouble and he was staying in Wind to babysit Hinata while she tried to learn a Jutsu that might, or might not help. This wasn't the right choice. "I should be going..." He turned his eyes up from the sandy ground and met his team leader's masked face. The face he'd only ever seen once, and might never see again.

Kakashi sighed and tilted his head slightly, very aware of the distress that billowed off his subordinate; the man that would one day be his Hokage and would always be his friend. "Naruto, you won't be far behind us. We can manage to get home without you." He clapped the man reassuringly on his shoulder and a smile pulled his eye into a tight crease.

Hinata smiled tightly as Shikamaru looked toward the horizon, anxious to be off and uncomfortable with goodbyes. "Shikamaru, be careful. Tell Choji and Ino I said hi and we will be home in a few weeks..." She leaned in and gave him a small, quick hug, not wanting to make him feel too strange about the departure.

The shadow-user grinned slightly, taken aback by the hug. As she pulled away he rubbed the back of his head and winced in his awkwardness. "Alright, Hinata. See you there." He turned his sheepish gaze toward Kakashi and Naruto. The orange Ninja had pulled the Jounin into a tight embrace.'_ Naruto...sorry we're not telling you the truth...' _Gods he felt like such an asshole.

Sakura's stomach hit the floor heavy with guilt as Naruto pulled the copy-nin into a brotherly hug and whispered something in his ear that she couldn't hear. A tap on her shoulder turned her around toward the white eyes of her demure friend. "Hinata...can you make sure to take notes to bring back with you on the Chakra points in the brain, I was having a hard time with it."

"Of course Sakura..." Hinata held her arms out, beckoning the medic.

Sakura smiled in earnest at her benevolent friend and gave in to her silent pleas for a goodbye-hug with a laugh. "Bye Hinata...be careful."

The Hyuuga grinned sadly and nodded as she was squeezed, maybe just a little too tightly. Oh well the medic was a strong kunoichi; strong hugs were the best side of her temper. "You too..." She turned her head slightly and her voice dropped to just above a whisper in Sakura's ear. "...and I hope you figure out what has been bothering you so much...whatever it is, your friends can help.."

"We have to go; it's going to be dark in a few hours." Shikamaru called out as he pointed in the direction they should be heading.

Sakura felt a knot in her chest as Hinata's soft words went deep and cut. She couldn't formulate a response and she only nodded. Seconds later she was jerked free of Hinata and was instantly folded into a bone crushing hug from Naruto.

Kakashi watched as Naruto grabbed his Medic up in his arms, a small weary smile no-one could see spreading underneath his mask. His shoulders were burdened with his pack and the regret he already felt for the way they were leaving their comrades in the dark. He felt so heavy; it was a miracle he didn't sink into the ground.

"Sakura-chan. I'll miss you. I'm sorry I can't go with you..." Naruto mumbled in anguish as he released his arms from around her and her feet dropped back to the sandy surface.

"I'll miss you too Naruto..."

"Don't get hurt Sakura. Something is going on...I won't be there to-"

"Naruto." She scolded lightly. "We'll be ok, we are just going home and we will contact you in every few days at the checkpoints... "

"If you don't check in-"

"We will." She held her hand out to stop his doubts from being voiced any farther. She couldn't deal with his unquestioning devotion to them, while she was abandoning him in a foreign country without all the information. "We need to go."

"Yeah we do..." Shikamaru held his hand out to Naruto, shaking it firmly. "We'll be ok. Contact you in a few days. See ya..."

Naruto nodded and watched as his three friends turned to walk off, Shikamaru looking over the map deciding the best route to take to the checkpoint with Kakashi. Sakura's fingers nervously playing with a strip of black binding cloth she had tied around her upper arm.

* * *

Sakura looked up toward Kakashi as he frowned over the map with Shikamaru. She felt raw on the inside, Hinata's soft words and Naruto's overwhelming worry, ripped away the confidence she had in their decision. Maybe it would have been better to tell them, maybe they already knew something.

She thought back to the moment between Naruto and Kakashi and became suspicious. Suspicious and paranoid. "What did Naruto whisper to you...?" She waited for something bad.

Kakashi's eye fell on his pink haired kunoichi, his chest tightening as he again caught sight of the plain hitai-ate he had left on her bag, tied to her upper arm. She had not mentioned it, and neither would he. He sighed deeply and looked up toward the sky as he spoke. "He apologized for not being there for us in Tani...he said he loved us, and he would never forgive himself for letting** all **of us down. I think he was talking about Sai and Sasuke too..."

They slipped into a repentant silence, reflecting on the honest words of the man who carried his own guilt just as heavily as they did themselves. The man who trusted them to the end of the world and would believe anything they told him. The man who they lied to time and time again. The man who deserved so much better.

He was their best friend.

* * *

**A/N**_ sorry for taking so long to update :( real life has a way of infiltrating my internet life. _

_We shall sally forth, and despite the melee, we will finish this campaign and reap the spoils of victory together. _


	22. Falling Rain

_**Falling**** Rain**_

* * *

Sasuke stared into space as his ever silent partner and the other guard strode down the gray walkway, past his cell, and into the guard room. Tiny droplets of water cascaded off their backs and onto the floor as they made their way past him. It must be raining outside._ '..How long has it been since I've been in the rain?'_ He longed for the feel of it running down his face, the smell of it in the air. He longed for the feel of many things. Things he was as close to feeling as he was to the rain outside.

Neji and the other guard would relieve the men on duty and keep watch for the next six hours. Six at the Six, everyone's favorite. His appearance was the signal that his little intelligence gathering mission could begin again.

It had be just over a week since Neji and the other Anbu had questioned him in the interrogation room. Just over a week and he had made some progress on the battle front that was Kanta. The falsetto with the beard did in fact know something. He had, in a roundabout way, told Sasuke of the lock he had on his mind. He said 'they all' had it. Every single one of them.

That meant the operation Kanta was involved in, whatever it was, was larger than just a few men on a rampage. Some of these people had some high level techniques. They were organized enough to pull off multiple attacks within a window of less than forty-eight hours.

That particular set of information Neji had slipped to him as he was handed his breakfast or it could have been dinner or lunch; time and food didn't change in the Six. He got the same sloppy meal of something he'd prefer not to identify, twice a day. "Keep them lean and mean on the Six" seemed to be the motto around here. Hunger was a negligible issue. He was cracking Kanta; the man was bursting with pride to divulge what he knew and it was driving him insane that he couldn't boast about his part in it all. Pride was an ever growing creature that Sasuke knew very well. She swelled under flattery, lashed out when she was hurt and she was very hard to manage once she got a certain size.

Kanta sat up from his too small cot. Fuck his arm itched... or his not-arm. Whatever you called it when the piece of your body that wasn't there to scratch itched like an old whore's crotch. He cringed, gritted his teeth and again thought of all the ways he wanted to slit that little pink cunt wide open. He knew she was alive; that was one of the first things they threw in his face when he had been brought here. _'Got your arm torn off by a Kunoichi a third your size and she's still walking around. You must be some sort of pussy...' _Fuck those assholes. That little bitch caught him by surprise. Bet she wouldn't come down here and try it again. Well maybe she would seein' as he was half starved, beat up and had these chakra sucking bracelets on. "Fuckin' leaf ninja can suck my dick... They don't know shit." he mumbled to himself in irritation.

"They know something or else you wouldn't be here." Sasuke's constantly sullen voice echoed through the hall.

Kanta narrowed his eyes and smirked. He sort of liked that Uchiha prick. He was a real cool guy. He had even killed his own brother. That was some hardcore shit. Too bad he ended up stuck in here; he could have been part of the operation too. Maybe... He did seem pretty crazy from all the stories he had heard. And they already had a world of crazy in their ranks, what with Ryota, Norio, and Mitsuo. Dai and Yori too. Well no, Yori seemed ok. He had a bit of a drinking problem though and Dai, she was just fucking creepy.

"They don't know what I know..." Kanta scuffed his stupid little cloth shoe on the ground. Really? He couldn't even have proper footwear in this stupid place? His feet got cold real easy.

Sasuke stood and stretched. "How do you know anything from in here?"

Kanta stood too and went to the cell door to look out across at the Sharingan user he had grown accustomed to. "Plans are plans. It doesn't matter where you are, they still happen."

"Tschh." Sasuke rolled his eyes at the gaunt, bruised man across the way. "So everything is going according to your plan then..." He motioned to the bars in front of his cage.

Kanta scoffed. "Not **my **plan and something must have happened. They're early...must have a reason to rush..." he frowned, wondering what the hell could have happened. As far as he was aware it was winter. They weren't supposed to start till spring. They couldn't have replaced the men they lost that quickly. He had seen at least two of their teammates get killed the day he was taken captive, after that huge fuck up at the rendezvous point. "Someone must have lit a fire under their asses..." he mused in his tiny voice.

"Yeah? So what do you think happened?" Sasuke glanced down the hall toward the door where the guards stood posted.

"Who knows? I don't make the plans. I just follow orders. I wasn't anyone special, just had some special things I can do. That's a hirable offense these days, if you're a mercenary shinobi."

"So you were getting paid?" Sasuke smirked. His heartbeat quickened with surprise. He was getting somewhere.

"Well yeah." Kanta shrugged. "Didn't you get paid for your missions?"

Now it was Sasuke's turn to shrug. He had gotten paid when he was a member of the leaf. But he only got paid in blood, anger and loss when he had gone rogue. Better to leave that last part out; didn't seem very conducive to his role. "I guess so..."

"Same thing, real organized." Kanta reached out to scratch an itch on his hand. Stopped. His hand wasn't there. He narrowed his eyes. Fuckin' ghost hand.

"You and your friends probably the reason I had my ribs beat in last week..." Sasuke mumbled in an annoyed tone. His ears tuned in listening for the answer he had been biding his time to get. Kanta was comfortable with him now. They shared a few stories, slept in the same cold rooms, got beat by the same frowning faces and ate the same crappy gruel. They were bonded, at least in Kanta's small piggy eyes.

Kanta's lips pulled in a regretful smile and he clicked his tongue against his teeth, nervous. He liked Sasuke, really he did. But discussing the mission out loud was expressly forbidden. He hadn't ever even seen them and never spoke with them directly. But he knew_ they_ were around. This is where they were from. Shit he maybe _had_ seen them and just never knew it. It was an intimidating thought. At first he figured they would just kill him, but here he was, still alive and kicking.

It did piss him off some that he had been here, caged up for months now, and they hadn't even dropped him a note. Was a little appreciation too much to ask? He had gotten his arm torn off, his ass kicked, his mind ripped apart, been eating what seemed to be some mixture of dirt and horse piss the whole time, and he hadn't uttered a word about the plans. That thing on his brain did help a bunch though. Nobu, the little fucker, knew his shit when it came to Genjutsu and Seals.

Sasuke turned around and leaned against the door, staring, once again, at the area where Sai's sketches would have hung in his old cell. Kanta had frozen, again. It's like he was afraid to speak. That didn't make any sense. Why not talk about something when you're already in prison for it. It's not like the rogue seemed particularly honorable. Why wouldn't he say anything?

The thought continued to plague him. Still, he did get some useful information today, just not what he was looking for. Maybe tomorrow. They weren't going anywhere.

Neji walked in a few hours later to hand Sasuke his rations as the other guard tended to Kanta. The Uchiha slipped a small piece of paper into his hand. A tiny scrap of paper that he had been left with, to write down any information he had found out, with the tiny dull pencil (seemed Neji didn't trust him with a sharpened one) he had also been given. The Anbu's hand covertly pocketed the paper, and with a silent nod was gone.

* * *

The team stood silent on the crest of the hill overlooking the fields of crops and the houses that dotted the lush area. Their mission was complete. Morning was only an hour away. It would start soon.

They worked together flawlessly; a well oiled machine. It was a beautiful thing, only appreciated by people that could truly understand. The ability to function as a whole, to play off each other's strengths, to compensate for each other's weaknesses; that was what being a team was.

They were not like the team that had failed in River, Norio and his band of misfits. Ryota was a thug, Jun was lacking in skill and patience and Norio himself was nothing but a theatrical fool. They were nothing like that collection of Psychopaths that had been in Wind; Yori a disconnected alcoholic with a passion for nothing, Shinchai the little loud bitch who didn't know the joy of peace and quiet and Mitsuo the demon that pretended to be a anxious but charming man.

They had been positioned in Mist. Asuka and Nobu had traveled to both Wind and River a few weeks ago; Nobu needed to lengthen the seals on the scrolls that held the connection between the teams and the leaders in Fire. Dai had sat alone in Mist and waited for their return. Ever silent.

"We should leave before it begins." Nobu, the lithe young man with deeply tanned skin and dark blue shoulder length hair whispered to the women at his side.

Asuka nodded and began forming the seals she needed for the jutsu that would spirit them away. The tall auburn haired women who grew her hair to extraordinary lengths, but always kept it wrapped up tight on her head, was a wind-user of a different level. She could support them all on a tight wave of wind for miles and miles, high above the ground. It was an effective method of transportation, but only at night. It was safer to travel on foot during daylight; less chance of being spotted.

Dai held her hand out to stop the other woman from finishing her jutsu and motioned toward the village. They had time; she wanted to make sure everything went according to plan.

Nobu held his tongue. Dai was being thorough. She was always painfully thorough and painfully silent. When they had first met he had been put off by her appearance, for no reason other than it was strange, but she was a good leader and an excellent teammate. He wouldn't trade his team for any of the others. The fact that Dai didn't have a single piece of hair on her anywhere was normal now. The massive tattoo that covered the entirety of the left side of her body, head to toe, didn't bother him either.

He didn't know what the bluish words and symbols all over the left side of body meant; maybe it was her religion. He didn't know why she didn't have eyebrows, hair on her head or hair anywhere for that matter. Maybe it was a side effect of all the poisons her kekkei-genkai produced, or maybe it was also a religious thing. Maybe she just hated hair and found a jutsu to rid herself of it. He asked her once, years ago when they had first met, before Asuka had joined them. She only smiled tightly in response to his question. The strange smile he had grown fond of over the years. He never asked again.

Asuka's hands dropped back to her side, acquiescing to the silent orders. They had some time, even if they had to travel on foot through the forest until dark. They had left the rendezvous three days ago, meeting up with Norio's team there. Apparently Yori's people had a side mission that was holding them up. (That was fine. They were an unsavory bunch.) After everyone had two days of rest, they were on the move again. Norio's team should be dealing with their target within the next twelve hours, according to the plans. She crouched down on the ground and plucked at the grass. "What's Norio's team going to do again?" She knew she just wanted something to talk about.

Nobu gestured toward the direction Norio's team should be, far removed from this area. "We've got the crops. They've got the ports."

"And Yori's team? How late will they be?" Asuka asked, filling the silence after a few minutes had past.

"About a week." Nobu crouched beside his chatty teammate. Really Asuka wasn't that talkative, she just spoke more than Dai, but so did most of the world. The wind-user had joined them after a series of unfortunate events had occurred in her hidden village and her life after the war. When she talked about her past, which was very rare, it was with a faraway look and tears in her eyes. She had two children, but never mentioned their names. She had a husband, but never said what had happened to him. She had a past, but she left it all behind and tried not to look back. This was her life now. That other life belonged to someone else. She was not that woman anymore. That woman was dead.

"Hnnn..." Was the only noise Asuka made in response to Nobu's information.

Half an hour later it started. The sky had turned the miserable grey that was the vanguard of a dreary, rainy winter's day. Nobu's genjutsu would have worn off by now, it wasn't very strong. It only kept everyone and everything asleep while Dai worked from the air with Asuka's help.

First were the distraught noises of the sparse head of cattle, moaning in the fields. Then the few other animals; horses, goats, pigs, all gasping, crying and struggling for a way to escape the pain. The people who went to see them, to check on their suffering livestock with confusion, were next.

The team couldn't see them all, but they could hear them The groans, the screams, the terror. _What was happening? Someone get help. Please. Help me_. There was no help for them, or their family. It was too late.

Everything was poisoned.

As Nobu ensured with his genjutsu that they would not be discovered by people, nervous livestock or protective dogs, the area was dusted in a fine layer of one of the numerous poisons Dai could produce. From her vantage point aloft she dispersed it over the area, infusing her poisonous despair inside her chakra and casting on the sleeping rural villagers' homes.

It was a time bomb, and it had just gone off. It attacked your guts, quickly dissolving your insides until they fell outside of your body in whichever way they could manage. It was painful and messy, but as far as her toxins went, this one killed quicker than most. They should count themselves lucky.

She had also covered all the crops; this area had some of the richest land in Fire. Now it would be useless. There could be no winter harvest of the hardy roots and vegetables that were ripe and ready for plucking. And come spring, if anyone tried to sow a new crop, the only thing they would reap would be failure. This was their mission, and they had several more like it to complete.

Dai turned toward her comrades who rested against the trunk of a tree and waited for her order to move out patiently. The wailing groans of agony from the people and animals fell on deaf ears. They did not care. You can't blame a sword for cutting someone; it was what they were made for. If you were looking for a place to put the blame, it should be with the wielder; the sword moves by their hand only.

She nodded her head toward the direction of their next assignment as a soft roll of thunder sounded overhead. Then they were gone.

The sky opened up and rained down on the farmland, farmers and animals alike. The tears from the sky puddled in the ruin that was left behind by the three rogues. The cries soon dissolved to a grave like silence and all that was left was the sound of the drops hitting the ground, like the bodies had only minutes before.

* * *

She was messing with it again. She couldn't stop herself. When she saw it lying on her bag, she thought he had dropped it. But Kakashi didn't do anything without a reason and the implications made her chest ache. Why did he leave her this strip of cloth? Did he just want a piece of him near her? Did he want her to have something to remember their time together was it his attempt at a promise? He never said his reason, and she couldn't bring herself to ask. His hitai-ate was wrapped around her arm, like her heart was wrapped around him. Tight and unmoving. She had lost herself to him and she couldn't remember when it had happened.

So she wore it, on her upper arm over the black long sleeved shirt, and she wouldn't take it off. She ran her fingers over the loose ends on the knot she had tied with her teeth and her fingers, while she remembered the first time she saw his face. The first time he kissed her. The first time he came to her apartment after Sasuke had been brought back and asked her if she wanted to get something to eat. The first time he saved her life during the exams, then again on the bridge. The first time he told her of his past and his old teammates. The first time he told her how he felt about Sasuke and why he hated and understood him. She remembered it all and pleaded, to whatever God would listen to not let him get taken from her.

Her masked man dropped to the ground from the tree tops, pulling her from her memories. She followed and Shikamaru landed beside her in a small pool of water, the mud splashing up on her legs.

"This the place?" The Shadow-user turned a circle, peered through the drizzle and looked back to Kakashi.

"Uh..." The copy-ninja stared at the soggy map in his hand, trying locate the meeting point with Naruto's summon. "Yeah..." He pointed his finger first left, then squinted at the map and adjusted it more to the right. "Should be over that way..."

Shikamaru headed in the direction the copy ninja motioned toward, and frowned at the water logged forest that seemed determined to make him as uncomfortable as possible. His clothing was suctioned to his body and chaffing him in very upsetting places. He would not ask Sakura to heal him, he would rather die. So he walked, chaffed, and frowned.

Kakashi turned his lone eye toward his drenched medic. Her hair that had been tied back earlier had fallen out and stuck to her forehead and cheeks. Her head was bent down, to avoid getting the rain in her eyes. The dirt, leaves and brambles had dyed the bottom of her black pants a muddy brown. The short ends of his hitai-ate, that was tied to her arm, fluttered lightly in the wind as she glanced up to him, probably feeling his lingering stare.

When she pushed her hair from her forehead and graced him with a miserable half smile his stomach clenched and his heart dropped. They had been on the road home for a week; they were within Fire country now. A few more days and they would be home. The closer they got to Konoha the more he struggled to push his feelings down, but it was so hard when she made him feel so much. He watched her staring at him quietly and sympathized with the rain that fell to the forest floor all around them. He knew it was terrifying. Somewhere along the line, he had fallen too. He only hoped that once the storm was over, they would both be left standing.

Sakura sniffed and wiped her wet face with the back of her hand, biting her lip and trying to keep her cheeks their normal color as Kakashi's eye stuck to her. She didn't need his mask off to know the layout of his face when he looked at her. Every time she turned around these days he had that aching look buried deep in his dark eye. What was he thinking?

He held his hand out, beckoning her toward him as his eye creased slightly. "Come on, Sakura. We need to find the creek, the summon is going to be there soon."

The medic's conflicted emotions shattered as he spoke her name and she jogged over to his side with a small smile. "Yeah, and Naruto wouldn't even wait five minutes before he'd jumped up and leave Suna to come rescue us." She shook her head as she thought about their blonde teammate.

Kakashi's eye-crinkle only increased at her words and he reached his fingers out to brush a wet coil of pink hair behind her ear as they trudged after Shikamaru._ '...Oh Hatake, what have you done? Who's going to save you from yourself?'_' He wasn't sure he wanted to be saved. "Sakura...?"

"What?" She turned around slightly as she pushed under a low hanging branch to glance up at him.

'_Yeah Hatake…What?...What are you going to tell her?...While you're both in the middle __of__discovering a traitor in the village and when the country is under attack...? What's more important than that?' _The words in his throat were swallowed back down into his chest to wait restlessly for a better time. He cleared his throat and motioned to the side. "Go right..."

"Oh, Ok..." She felt crescent fallen and pursed her lips. For some reason she had been expecting him to say something with a little more depth. She ducked under the branch, spotted Shikamaru through the trees, crouched down by the creek and she pointed to him "Shika found it."

"Good." Kakashi followed her under the branch and did not shirk away when she reached her hand out to wrap her fingers in his and pull him along toward the Shadow-user.

Shikamaru turned around from the little fat creek that was rushing happily with new water. The sight of Kakashi's hand mingling with Sakura's was not as disturbing as it had once been. It did make him feel lonely in his own life every time he saw a small subtle display of affection between the two. A hand brushing lightly against a back, a secret smile he could not find the reason for, and the way their eyes both filled with relief when they looked up to see where the other one was and found a set of eyes staring back at them. He wanted that.

This hand holding business was the most brazen display of their relationship he had seen since they left Suna. _'We're almost home...they're worried...' _No matter how worried they were about their personal situation, they never voiced their reservations and only discussed the mission in Konoha and the attacks on Fire.

A little orange toad surfaced a yard away and Kakashi and Sakura dropped each other's hands like they were on fire. The copy-ninja crouched next to Shikamaru and Sakura crossed her hands over her chest as she moved to stand behind the men.

"Hey, everything going alright?" The toad croaked as he pulled half of his body to shore.

"Oh yeah...it's great..." Shikamaru held his hand out to catch the rain. The puddle of water under his body had grown to a remarkable size from all the rain dripping off of him. It was strange how being so wet caused him to feel so disgusting and made him want a shower, which would be just as wet.

The orange summon wasn't impressed with the Nara's sarcasm. He decided to talk to Kakashi instead and turned his head to look at the masked man. "Any trouble?"

"Nope, it's been quiet since we crossed the border." The copy-ninja answered, ignoring the slightly offended look Shikamaru slid between himself and the frog.

"You guys need anything?" The toad asked.

'_I want a hot shower and some warm clothes...' _Sakura mused but didn't voice. "Nope..." The toad only meant that Naruto would drop everything and run if they needed him to. They didn't need him to.

Shikamaru needed a good meal and a girlfriend. The toad probably couldn't get that for him, and if he could, he was willing to bet money that neither be his type.

Kakashi could go for a coffee and a fluffy bed. "No I think we're going to be fine. We're only a few days from home. We'll move out in the morning. See you in Konoha in a few days." He stood and gave a small wave as the summon went to report back to Naruto in Suna that the check-in went fine.

Shikamaru followed the copy-ninja up and grimaced at their muddy home for the night. "Why's it raining so much?" He complained in defeat.

Kakashi clapped him on the back and gave him an eye crinkled smile "The ground is thirsty..."

The Nara narrowed his eyes in confusion and stared at the ground as the sage copy-ninja left his side and went to scout out the area for somewhere less wet than the side of a creek with no cover. _'Is he being serious..?' _He could never tell.

Sakura rolled her eyes at her Jounin's typical odd answer. "It always rains in Fire during the winter..." She tilted her face up toward the dripping sky, squeezing her eyes shut as the droplets hit her and ran down her neck.

The masked man looked over his shoulder to his Kunoichi bathing her face in the downpour a few feet from him. The sight brought his wariness to heal and he found himself turning to walk toward her. He needed to tell her something, or he needed to at least try.

The medic cracked open one eye as a shadow crossed over her and before she could formulate any type of question, Kakashi, mask down, took her face in between his hands and slanted his mouth over hers. The warmth of his breath reached her as his cold, wet hands locked her in place against him, but she wasn't going anywhere. Her fingers fisted into the front of his vest and she leaned into him as his lips moved with hers. The rain dripped from his unkempt soaked hair onto her face and down between their mouths. The kiss was not long; it was not filled with desire and lust. It was a desperate, scared little thing that they both held separate pieces of.

It wasn't but a few moments before he pulled away from her and rested his forehead against hers, his eyes closed. He moved one of his hands down to the cloth wound around her upper arm and squeezed it tightly, his other hand still on her face. He could not lose her. Would not. He had lost too much already. He wouldn't have anything else he cared about ripped from him. "I promise..." He whispered the answer to the question she had asked him over a week ago, etched itself into him. One more promise.

Sakura's heart quickened as he whispered the weighty words and she felt a surge of something she dared not name. She wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek to his chest. She had asked if he would promise that he wouldn't let her go once they got home. She had selfishly asked the question, hopefully wished for answers she yearned to hear, and instantly regretted the burden she had laid at his feet. It wasn't right to ask such a thing of him, but she did. Now she needed to let him know that it was not a burden he would carry alone. "I promise too..."

Shikamaru had instantly averted his gaze from the anguished and bittersweet moment between his two comrades. He had told them they could wait to tell Tsunade, but that didn't matter. They were going home, to a place where displays like this were off-limits and an enemy was lurking. The enemy that had already tried to kill them both.

The traitor in Konoha didn't know what they knew. But going into the lion's den when the lion was asleep didn't mean it still wasn't dangerous. They were both afraid, and honestly, so was he.

* * *

Her breath curled slowly from between her lips as she sighed and closed her eyes. The wind from the north sent the rain down in cold snaps across her face. She had to do something. To act, or to wait? What was the right answer? Answers she had little and less of. Questions consumed her from all sides and from within.

The council, the elders, the daimyo, the shinobi and the people of Fire cried out for action. _Do something, you're the Hokage!_ She had done something. She had sent out teams for reconnaissance and aid. She had sent out people to search for the perpetrators of the crimes on Fire. All teams found nothing and reported no useful Intel. There was nothing to see, no-one to help and no one to blame. No-one but herself. She had tried to build alliances, share information and dissolve some of the borders between Fire and the other countries after the war. Maybe that had been a mistake. A mistake that killed so many.

The strategy meeting yesterday morning had quickly evolved into a trial where guilt and consequences were thrown around and nothing was resolved. They blamed her. Some of them had the fortitude to come out and say it. Others just looked on reproachfully and said nothing.

xxx

"_Tsunade-Sama, the teams we sent out to the villages have all reported back their findings. You looked over the reports?" Akihisa questioned from the other side of the large map of Fire in the Anbu headquarters._

_Tsunade only nodded. She received a report of death, fire, poison and destruction. She received a report that didn't help her at all._

"_What should their next orders be?" The Anbu senior asked, shifting his weight in contained frustration at her prolonged silence._

'_What should their next orders be? Where do they go? What are we even looking for? What is the right answer?' She thought and doubted herself, biting her lip as she flipped through the options in her brain. This was so much simpler when the enemy made themselves known. Madara, Obito, Sasuke and Orochimaru. They were enemies of Fire and they had been handled as such. This... this was something else entirely and she knew it wasn't over. But what was the next move?_

_The room of faces stared at her; jaws clenched, lips pressed together tightly and waiting for her orders._

_Takashi Otari, the older council elder who had lost his niece in one of the attacks shuffled forward, his expression grim and disapproving. "We should send teams over the borders and see if they can find anything from our enemies there."_

_The Sannin pulled her head back slightly. "No, Takashi. We will not infiltrate the other countries in force. We have nothing that points to-"_

"_We have nothing but destroyed villages and stone's throw over several of the borders." Takashi spat out._

"_Do you think Wind attacked us? Lightning? Mist?" She growled out harshly_

"_Do you __**not**__? You've played host to them all and it wouldn't be the first time they have-"  
_

"_**We cannot just cross into other countries with hostility**__**and accuse them of something we are not sure of! That is an act of war! **__" She slapped her hand on the table. The act knocked over and spilled her short glass of Sake across the map and her voice dropped to a desperate whisper. "They have been our allies. They helped us during the war..."_

"_**This**__ was an act of war..." One of the other Anbu officers pointed at the red small dot that represented one of the destroyed villages._

"_Then what do you suggest we do Hokage-sama?" Akihisa spoke up again, his tone sharp. Clearly he agreed with Otari. As she raised her eyes to glance around the room, the tight faces that made up the majority told her that most of the others agreed with him too. They wanted someone to blame and they would start another war to get it. And she was telling them no._

"_We do not have a choice except but wait and see what the enemy does next." She answered their hard stares with her own._

_The tension rose to dizzying heights in the wake of her order and a few screaming seconds of silence preceded the outcry._

"_You would __**defend**__ our enemies in one breath and wait for Fire to be __**attacked**__ with the next!?" Otari cried out incredulously._

"_The other countries are __**not **__our enemies." Tsunade tried to rein in her temper._

"_We have nothing to prove otherwise." A high ranking Hyuuga named Gogashi intervened, placing his hand on Otari's shoulder._

"_Lack of evidence does not __**prove**__ guilt Gogashi-san." Her eyes narrowed at the older Hyuuga council member._

"_Neither does it __**prove**__ innocence, Tsunada-Sama." Togashi remarked coolly._

"_The Third would never allo-" Otari mumbled_

"_**I am NOT the third! And you will control yourself or you will be forced to leave Otari-san!" **_Tsunade's voice slammed around the room like a force of nature.

xxxx

It had gone on like that. They would urge action and haste. She would deny it, and order them to wait and have patience.

Her village was ready for revenge. They were a pack of hungry wolves ready to slake their need on anyone she pointed them at, and she refused. The pack was getting restless. She had teams spread across Fire looking for answers, twiddling their thumbs and ready for vengeance. She had teams in Konoha straining at the leash to get out and tear across the country, seeking the enemy that had no face. That was the problem with faceless enemies, they looked like everyone.

"Tsunade...?" The hesitant familiar voice echoed from a few feet behind her.

The Hokage's eyes slid back open and she stared up at the faces on the side of the cliff; the other Hokages, and herself. "Hnn?"

"I was looking for you everywhere...Naruto's summon showed up in the pool over an hour ago and confirmed Sakura, Kakashi and Shikamaru's check in." Shizune held her paperwork above her head to shelter her face from the cold rain as the sun set behind them.

"Ok." She nodded and turned to walk back toward the Hokage tower with her friend. She only got a few steps when an bright green paper caught her eye and she bent to pick it up, already knowing what to expect.

The image was one of an old Tsunade, cane in one hand and stack of bottles behind her. A line of masked faces with shirts that said 'Enemy' stood waiting to get past her and through a door off to the side called 'Fire'. The old Tsunade was taking the bottles and trading the Sake for new shirts that said 'Friend' and allowing them through the door. The bottom read "Fire: Where we have no enemies, only friends."

She tucked the paper into her pocket and continues toward the Hokage tower in silence. The message was an obvious knock at her inaction to pursue the threat of other countries during the council meeting. Apparently word had gotten out and this fool had laughed in the dark and made his comic strip of insubordination to pass out amongst her ranks. When she found out who was doing this she would kill them. The papers were further sowing the seeds of insecurity her Shinobi had. They couldn't afford to be torn apart right now. She needed Konoha to stay united.

* * *

"You're gettin fuckin' mud in my fuckin' eyes..." Shinchai hissed between her teeth as her team leader's boot dropped another clump of wet dirt down on top of her head.

"I wish I had some in my fuckin' ears, so I wouldn't have to listen to you bitch so much." Yori grunted as he pulled himself up out of the literal hole in the ground they had stayed in. When he had said they needed somewhere to hole up in for a few days, he hadn't thought that was where they would actually end up. The tiny entrance to the downward sloping cave was the only viable option they had all found while they waited for their targets.

"Hey Bendy, need a hand?" Mitsuo grinned, looking altogether too pleased with himself in the silvery moonlight. That fire breathing bastard had scrambled up the slippery washed-out rock face as soon as the word came to move out. He was ready.

"Fuck your hand." Yori slapped it away, not in the mood. He hated the rain. Sure it had its tactical advantages, he would never argue that. But he still hated it, especially in the dark like this.

Mitsuo shrugged. "Sometimes, when it's my only option..." He was getting a little excited; after the days of waiting anxiously it was finally time to fight.

"When do you ever have a different option?" Shinchai, the mud caked fury, grabbed at the top of the steep ledge and pulled herself up, scowling when the two men offered her no assistance. Really they could be such dick holes sometimes.

"There's always other options." Mitsuo trained his sharp dark eyes on the wet and mud splattered Kunoichi on the ground before him.

Yori sucked in a breath, pulled up short, and turned back to Mitsuo. There he went with that creepy shit again; he was getting too pumped up and needed to be brought back to the ground. They didn't need that fucker going off the deep end and trying to kill them both. "Mitsuo, calm down, we've only got a few hours 'till dawn and we need to move very carefully."

Shinchai wrinkled her nose, tugged off the pack on her back and held it out to Mitsuo. "Take him for me for a minute." She waited for him to take the pack and went to tightening up the bindings on her legs. Really the bindings were just fine, but the fire-user was getting ahead of himself and Mino was a distraction that worked well on the monster inside Mitsuo.

Mitsuo narrowed his eyes as he snatched the bag and couldn't stop himself from opening it up. The tabby had grown in the little time they had him, but he was still just a handful of fur. When his harsh gaze was met with the indigent mew of the kitten that had gotten its nap disrupted his scowl pulled into a small smile. Stupid cat was pretty cute. "Hey Mino...you'll only be in here for a little bit and then we'll find somewhere to let you out for awhile…" He promised the kitten that didn't care.

'_Son of a bitch...we should've gotten him a cat a long time ago..' _ Yori rolled his eyes at his teammates as he pulled his last bottle of half empty (or half full if you asked Shinchai, which he didn't) liquor from his pack and moved it to his lips to take a swallow.

"Uh...I thought we needed to move carefully..." Shinchai flicked the bottom of the bottle of liquor and caused it to bump against his teeth annoyingly.

"Yeah." The calmed-by-kitten Mitsuo chimed in raising a brow. "You really ought to cool it Yori. That shit's going to kill you."

He was going to kill them both **and** take their cut of the money, really he was. He screwed the top back on the bottle and shoved it back in his pack, eye-fucking the both of them with his scowl.

"Don't look at us like that..." Shinchai scoffed. "We're just trying to help you."

Yori shook his head in frustration. "There's nothing fuckin' wrong with me besides you two idiots."

"A self awareness issue... I think that is your first problem." Mitsuo shouldered the Mino-pack and strode off toward their targets location.

"...And...you use liquor as a crutch to deal with your emotions..." Shinchai bit her lip to hide the smirk as she sauntered after her teammate.

The tall kekkei-genkai user huffed out a calming breath, his muscles tensing. One of them had to die. He needed Mitsuo to light the fires and cut people down. So he would just kill Shinchai. If it was just one of them alone, and they didn't have each other to play off of, it would be more tolerable. Then he and Mitsuo could just split her half of the money. No wait, he needed Shin to blow shit up for them, it was really useful.

Yori frowned at his conundrum and stalked after them before they screwed anything. He thought over the only option he could come up with to get away from their teasing and bickering. He snarled lowly. "Well, I'm not fuckin' killing _myself..._" He was getting way too old for this shit. "This is it. After this job, no more. I'm going to retire..." He promised himself. He had said that before, and often. Problem was his money and his liquor ran out. Work like this never did.

* * *

"Hey..." Kakashi crouched down beside his medic, touching her shoulder lightly, waking her. "Time to go."

Shikamaru, whom the copy ninja just shook a wet branch over his face to wake him up, rolled his eyes at the gentle way he touched the pink-haired woman a few feet away. _'...Sure, he drowns me and he almost brings her breakfast in bed...must be nice...'_

Sakura winced, cracked an eye open and met the soft gaze of her dripping silver-haired shinobi. "Still raining?" She deduced from his appearance and the sounds around her.

"Nope. Just took a bath with my clothes on." His eye creased.

The shadow-user sat up and peered out into the downpour from the small lean-to that they had constructed the night before. Give a shinobi a few branches and they would build you a castle, or a semi water resistant place to take shelter during a storm. "Worse than yesterday..." He sighed._ 'Now I'm really going to get chaffed...maybe I should ask Sakura for some... ointments... or... something...'_ He plucked at the spot high on his thigh that his still-damp pants clung to uncomfortably.

"Hnn..." She smiled at both men. Kakashi's weirdness and Shikamaru's pessimism. "I want breakfast, nice hot breakfast..." She stretched her hands above her head, preparing to get up.

Kakashi held out a handful of mashed up looking things that maybe were berries a few months ago. "They are warm from my hand...Shiba found them..." He tried to meet her request the best he could.

Sakura took one of the tiny, squashed maybe-berries, mostly out of guilt and popped it in her mouth.

"They taste horrible though." Kakashi added as her face contorted into a severe grimace. The look on Sakura's face and the statement from the copy-ninja halted Shikamaru's hand that had reached out to grab up some of the special very-berry-breakfast.

"Ugh..." She spat out what she could of the sour, rancid tasting berry. "You did that on purpose..." She accused as she glance up at the amused eye-crinkle on her Jounin's face.

Kakashi nodded without guilt. "Yeah..." He loved when she made funny faces, it was adorable. Extra adorable when she was taken by surprise in the morning while her pink locks were in disarray._ 'You're a sick man Hatake...' _He knew he was, but he had to enjoy the little things while he had them.

"The guys gone already?" Shikamaru asked, glancing around for their nightly watchers. Kakashi had started summoning the pack at night to help run patrol once they crossed into Fire.

The copy-ninja turned toward the shadow-user. "Most of them. I asked Pakkun, Uhei and Shiba to stay for a while. I thought we could go over what we need to do once we get home. The closer we get the higher chance of running into other teams and not being able to talk openly."

Mission mode was up and running in their brains again.

"First thing is, we need to talk to Tsunade." Sakura leaned forward and sat on her knees. The idea of seeing her Shishou again sent her heart racing. She had missed her so much, but also feared seeing her again after all that had happened._ 'What if she can tell what happened between me and Kakashi?' _That didn't matter now, the traitor did. She shook the thoughts from her head and re-focused.

"We need to get access to everyone in the village that knows about the mission we were sent on." Shikamaru frowned.

"That's a big list." Kakashi clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth thinking. "We need to narrow the search down to more specific items."

"Well, there are things a lot of people know. Like Sai's death and where we were going." Sakura closed her eyes in thought. "But there are things that were harder to know. When we were meeting with Tsunade at the river...the merchants in Tani..."

"Who would know that information? Only people that work closely with the Hokage, or people that have the ability to spy on her easily..." Shikamaru folded his hands together, breathing deeply as he thought on the question.

Kakashi flipped through the mental images of all the suspects. Gods there were a lot. Men and women he had worked beside, fought beside and killed beside. People he had laughed with. People he had known his whole life. "There are a lot of people that speak with Tsunade on a daily basis. She is the Hokage."

Sakura marinated in the information. "We need to speak with her first. She'll know everyone she's spoken with. Everyone that could possibly know those details. We can't decide the next move without her."

"We shouldn't speak in her office, it could be compromised." Shikamaru said.

"Yeah. After we report in, we should try to get her alone out of Hokage tower and-" Kakashi started.

"Guys, I think you're both forgetting something..." Sakura stated with a pained look as both men watched for her explanation expectantly. "Fire has just been attacked...she called almost all the teams back to help. Getting her alone is going to be difficult. And she's probably being watched...If we try to get her alone it's going to look suspicious and... we might already have orders at the gate to go somewhere else."

The medic had several valid points, but there was no way around this one. "That doesn't matter...we can't do anything without talking to her...alone." Kakashi reached out and touched her hand. "You're her apprentice. She is waiting for you to come home. Trust me; you're the only one that can get her by herself."

And just like that the weight of the mission settled on her shoulders like a boulder and she could almost feel herself sink a little farther into the mud. She nodded and bit her lip. "Ok.."

"We need to tear this down before we go." Shikamaru poked a branches above his head causing a cascade of rain to fall down on top of them. They all ducked in futile attempt to avoid the waterfall and the shadow-user got two glares for his actions.

They quickly got up to break up what little camp they had made. Their movements were quick and practiced after the years of doing this same thing on numerous missions. Leaving an easy trail of campsites to follow was not in the guide to being a successful Shinobi. They came and went with no sign. Or that was the general idea.

When the lean- to had been torn down and all evidence of their presence had been dispersed, they shouldered their packs and Kakashi put his fingers to his masked lips to whistle for the Ninken. His eyes dropped to Sakura, already soaked to the bone in the heavy downpour. He slid one arm around her shoulders and pulled her to his side in a small embrace. He could see the storm of worry in her eyes about the mission, as thick as the storm that thundered over their heads.

She laid her head gently against him as she sighed and brushed back her hair from her eyes. "Where are they?" She squinted toward the tree line.

Shikamaru shifted his feet uncomfortably. "Maybe they didn't hear, the thunder is pretty loud.

Kakashi's lips pressed together tightly and sighed with irritation. _'Where are the dogs...?'_

* * *

Tsunade eyes snapped open and she pulled her head up from her desk. She had fallen asleep.

"Tsunade..." Shizune whispered into the dark. The light of morning hadn't made its way into the room just yet.

"Hnnn?" The Sannin yawned and prepared herself for whatever catastrophe that had happened during the few hours of rest she had given in to.

"Tsunade...Multiple areas of farmland were attacked sometime yesterday and the shipping ports and vessels in several areas along the coast have been destroyed." Shizune's voice was soft and full of the worry she could not hide.

"What...?" The Hokage blinked. She wasn't ready for this.

"The Daimyo is demanding a meeting in person...Tsunade, things are getting really bad. Everyone is scared and no-one knows what to do. They all want answers."

The sound of rain on the window was the only answer the Sannin had for them.

* * *

'_Well that was a pain in the ass...' _Yori wiped his bloody knife off on the leg of his mud covered pants.

"Son of a bitch Yori." Mitsuo shot him a hard stare as he whispered harshly through the downpour, pulling himself up out of the mud from where he had fallen. "The fuckin' thing almost got away...I thought you said you were going left?!"

Shinchai snapped her fingers to get their attention and held up her hand to stop all action and words. She heard something.

They all sunk low into the mud again and listened. There it was again.

"What is that?" Shinchai mouthed, not daring to speak as she motioned toward the muffled noise.

Yori frowned and put his fingers to his lips in a whistling motion and pointed to the lifeless body of the ninken he had just gutted. That little fucker almost made it back to warn them. Almost, not quite. Well that was payback for the way he had gotten mauled at the campsite months ago by those other ninken.

He motioned with his hand with a quick 'follow me' gesture and they crawled forward, stomachs on the ground, faces in the mud and weapons at the ready.

The rain, for all he hated it, was helping. The noses of the dogs were weakened by the wind and rain from the torrential storm that fell down heavily on them. Their rustled noises of movement where confused with the crash of the rain down through the forest and the thunder above.

The dog put up a good chase when it had awkwardly almost stepped right on top of them as they tried to sneak up on the camp, but it was no match for the swift, practiced and unnatural reach of Yori's long knife. He had slammed its face into the mud to muffle its heroic attempts at alerting its summoner and slit open its stomach to end its struggle to escape.

Yori was the first to spy their quarry. The group of Konoha shinobi, two he recognized, and one he didn't, were almost seventy yards away to the right. His two comrades slid up behind him as the unfamiliar leaf-nin separated from the two others and moved toward them unknowingly.

"I call the girl..." Mitsuo whispered, staking his claim as his eyes fell covetously on the pink haired kunoichi stuck to the masked-man's side.

"I get the copy-ninja, he owes me..." Yori muttered. He didn't have much pride, but that asshole did make a fool out of him last time and his fuckin' dogs had covered him in holes. He deserved some sort of compensation.

Shinchai sulked and looked at her target. He must be the shadow-user they had been told about. "Ok…I'll take ponytail..."

Yori motioned for them to pull back and gestured to the right. They needed to get a little closer. He turned to gauge the distance one more time. None of them even had a chance to move. They all froze as a tan blur shot past them.

* * *

"I'll go find them." Kakashi squeezed Sakura into him and pressed a small kiss to the top of her head. The worry in his chest blossomed like a new spring flower, bright and fresh. His ninken never ignored him.

He turned his head toward Shikamaru ready to call out to him. The wind switched directions and a gust of rain hit his face like a bucket of iced knowledge; his breath froze in his lungs.

_Blood._

"Sakura." He turned back to his Kunoichi, steel in his eyes. Something was wrong. "Get ready."

Time froze for everyone as a filthy, tiny ninken darted out of the woods to their left. "Kakashi, the enemy is here. Shiba is dead. We found their trail...a few miles back, it was hard to follow in the rain...Shiba tried to come warn you.." Pakkun's husky little voiced fumbled past his explanations and remorse as he raced toward his summoner.

Uhei shot out of the woods a few yards away from where Pakkun emerged, almost slamming into the confused shadow-user. "Get back!" the dog barked the warning at Shikamaru.

Shikamaru stepped back and looked toward Kakashi and Sakura. His hands drifted up uncertainly to begin his jutsu if he needed too.

* * *

Yori sighed. He could really use a drink right about now. "Ooo...kayy..." He sighed resignedly and pushed himself up. The advantage of surprise was gone now. No reason to hang out in the rain with mud up to his balls.

Mitsuo's eyes were on fire and everything faded away. "The bitch is mine..." he warned as he jumped up after his leader, hand reaching for the sword on his back.

Shinchai felt the tingle of excitement flood her body as she eyed the tall man who she would face, following her comrades out of their hiding spot. This would be more stimulating than the village.

* * *

The three Konoha shinobi shifted into defensive positions as the three rogue-nin sauntered out of the woods in the downpour.

Sakura's eye landed on the dark haired man with the sword that was watching her. Her breath caught in her chest and blood pounded in her heart. "Kakashi...he killed Sai. He's a fire user." She would never forget the face of the man she saw her teammate struggling to fight. "And him..." her eyes drifted to Yori. She recognized his face as the man who had fought against bull and Pakkun. She sent chakra racing through her body. Let them come; she was not alone and tired this time. They would pay for what they did.

"He's the one that almost slit my throat over the border..." Kakashi muttered, his tone was dark with the anger he felt at seeing these people again. They had just killed his little grey companion and his heart cried out with the unexpected loss. _'Shiba...' _He had just joked and laughed with the dog about giving Sakura the disgusting berries only a few hours ago. But he didn't have time to mourn his funny little grey friend or deal with the burden of another life he loved lost. The enemy was here.

These were the people that had killed Shiba, had killed Sai and almost killed Sakura. This whole thing was their fault. "Shikamaru, get over here...Uhei, Pakkun...go... there has to be another team out here somewhere…find them..." The orders came swiftly and clearly as his fingers slid up to raise his hitai-ate from his sharingan. The only thing he registered beside the need to protect his teammates, and the wrath working its way out of his chest, was the small, cold and wet hand that reached out and squeezed his fingers. Sakura.

'_Don't let anything happen to her Hatake...' _

* * *

_**A/N**_

_Thanks for reading._


	23. Lost

_**Lost**_

* * *

'_Just breathe...'_ Sakura told herself as she tried to focus her thoughts and slip into the frame of mind she needed. Her heart was a rhythmic fast beat in her chest, her shoulders felt tight and her eyes followed the predatory way the three enemy shinobi approached. They were coming, slowly and deliberately. She shifted her weight to the balls of her feet. The fire-user had picked her out to target, that much was obvious. She heard Kakashi tell them not to let themselves get cornered or separated, that they needed to stay together and watch each other's backs. Needing something to happen one way, didn't change the fact that it hardly ever did. The tide of battle was anything but controllable and you just had to flow with it. Kakashi knew this, they all did. That didn't stop him from ordering them not to do it. And that didn't stop them from not being able to obey.

As if an unseen alarm had gone off the three rogues began the assault. The tiny blonde woman was proficient in evasive maneuvers and avoided what little shadows the Nara could create in the downpour that dropped on their heads. He needed a plan. He needed to figure out her capabilities. Why was he always fighting women? '_What a pain...'_

The frowning tall man he had faced before moved offensively on the copy-ninja who was tracking him with his tomoe, ever ready. He had seen the kekkei-genkai user in action; he was dangerous in hand to hand combat. His body could move and bend like water and he was fast. He needed to keep his distance and try to defeat the rogue with long-range jutsu. Through the pounding of the rain and the thunder over head, the copy-ninja heard a noise that made his heart leap into his throat. _Sakura. _His eyes left his target and jumped to the Kunoichi who just a minute ago was at his side.

The Medic braced herself for the onslaught, her chakra enforced arms raising above her head to ward off a heavy handed blow from the fire-user's sword. She had already been pushed back several yards as she tried to avoid his swings. This time she couldn't avoid it and with a grunt she deflected the steel, which also seemed to be swarming with the dark-haired man's oppressive chakra. Her other fist swung out to connect with his face.

She missed and he cut at her again, his eyes burning as they raged on in the battle. His swings with the sharp weapon were heavy and powerful, but she blocked and dodged them all. She opened up the ground on him, trying to swallow him alive in the mud, but he darted away and came at her again. When her foot brushed against a tree behind her, he wasted no time unleashing a torrent of flames; the heat dissolved the rain into a heavy cloud of white steam and she just missed meeting the same gruesome fate Sai did a few months ago. The tree stood a blackened ruin in the wake of the burning jutsu.

A dull boom echoed throughout the area that gave Sakura the briefest pause to glance over and try to identify where it had come from. She couldn't tell. She only saw her Jounin, sunk up to his knees in the overflowing water that had once been a creek. The water jutsu he had just attacked the blond man with fell to the ground, adding to the already muddy area.

Shikamaru stepped back again. He was too far back, too far in the dark woods. There wasn't enough light for him to cast his shadows far enough. He had taken the chance to grab the flash bangs he kept in his pocket and the chance had almost cost him his right leg. _'Explosions...' _So that was her talent. It was one he wasn't well suited for, but that's the way these things happened in battle. You never got to pick your enemy. If he could just get her shadow he would have her; he had almost gotten it a few times. Sakura had said these were the people that attacked and killed Sai in the campsite. These were the people that were working with the betrayer in Fire and they had been sent to clean up any chance of discovery.

They were well informed. It was clear she was aware of what his shadow technique required to perform at its peak and she was doing her best to hinder him from using it to it's full potential. All thanks to the traitor in Konoha. He was sure they had been briefed thoroughly on what to expect from each of the leaf-shinobi they were facing this morning... _'She knows how far I can get and what my weaknesses are...'_ She was taking no risks and offering almost no opportunities. _'...If I could just...' _He exhaled deeply and tried again.

Seconds grew into minutes and the minutes melted together and time became nothing but another mountain to climb. Jutsus and chakra crashed louder than the storm over head. They had all been separated across the squelching terrain by the creek, engaged in a merciless fight with enemies that had no quarter to give.

Sakura connected a solid hit across the face of the man that killed her friend. His jaw cracked and blood spilled from his mouth as he dropped to the ground a few feet away. She had him, just a few more minutes and he would make a mistake. She prayed it was the truth. Her own breath was coming just as quickly as the man she had knocked on the ground. Her own blood streamed off her forearm from a sword drop she hadn't protected herself against properly. One of them was close to making a mistake. It needed to be him.

She looked up toward Kakashi, who was now on the other side of the flowing water. Jutsu had been left behind as the combat became close between himself and the blond man. Panic flooded her chest as she watched him narrowly avoid the mans curved knife blade._ 'What if he doesn't make it...what if he gets hurt..?'_ Her emotions seized her brain and her legs sprang forward without a thought to any consequences._ 'We can take out the blond together, then the guy with the sword...he's already injured..'_

Kakashi, kunai in hand, leaned away from the unnaturally fluid rogue he was facing. He didn't want to be here, but the kekkei-genkai user refused to meet his eyes. He would not get trapped by the Sharingan. A surge of a familiar soft warm tingle registered in his mind before a blur of pink slammed into the blond man and sent him flying yards away. "Sakura, what are you doing?" he questioned, his eyes roaming over her battle worn appearance as they targeted several gashes in her arms. "Are you ok?" He reached his arm out to her as she bent over and put her hands on her knees to grab a breath and collect herself. Her heart was hammering so loudly she could hardly hear herself think.

"I'm fine..." She panted and glanced over at him as she assessed the state of her chakra. "I just-"

Her explanation was halted as the dark wall of chakra that came with the fire-user towered up behind them both. The inferno exploded around them, searing hot. Kakashi parried the flames with a wall of water and the affecting steam billowed around them wet and hot.

The fire-user pointed the end of his sword at them accusingly as the counteracting jutsu dissipated. "Don't fuckin' run from me when we're fighting bitch..." He snarled in irritation at Sakura.

The explosions in the woods off to their right became more frequent as they copy-ninja and the Hokage's apprentice met the snarling enemy head on. He was strong and skilled, but he could not take them both. After ten minutes of trying to defend himself against their years of teamwork he made a mistake. He brought his sword down on Sakura, too slowly and left himself open. She grabbed the blade with her hand and jerked him forward off balance. Kakashi was there, Raikiri searching for the vengeance it needed. He would kill him for what he did to Sai. He would kill him for everything that had happened.

"**Kakashi NO!**" Sakura yelled, and he hesitated. And without knowing why, he missed on purpose and let his chakra sizzle out.

Sakura pulled the sword from the man who had been facing death, and slammed her hand into his face. He dropped to his hands and knees in the mud weakly and tried to cling to the consciousness the damaging blow tried to rid him of. Blood spilled from his mouth and numerous cuts on his body and he fell to the ground as he gasped for air.

"Sakura!" Kakashi turned harshly toward his Kunoichi as he tried to suppress his frustration at being told to stop. "He kill-"

"We need him **alive** Kakashi! They have information!" She screamed loudly through the pounding rain at her jounin. He had been so lost in battle he had forgotten all except his need for revenge. Something he had always warned against.

The realization struck him like the lightning that lit up the skies around them. They had someone that knew who the traitor was and he had almost killed him. Another revelation drifted to the front of his mind and dropped heavily in his stomach as he stared at the man on his hands and knees in the mud.

It was quiet.

He could only hear the rain.

"Sakura...restrain him..." He pointed to the bleeding man on the ground as he pivoted in the mud, searching the clearing with his eyes. "Where are the two others? Sakura, where is Shikamaru...?"

* * *

Yori limped as he ran his tongue over the insides of his teeth and spit out the blood that had pooled there onto the waterlogged, leaf littered floor. "Fuckin' little friend of yours has a heavy hand." He growled and pulled up on the curved blade with irritation. If he didn't get a drink in the next twenty minutes he was going to kill himself, really he was. His head hurt, his face hurt, and his back hurt. His chakra was low and he had to piss. _Fuck_ he was mad. "Do you know how **FUCKIN'** hard it is not to look at someone's face when you're fighting them!"

"Yes." Shikamaru whispered as the knife under his chin cut into his skin. He had fought Sasuke Uchiha. The Sharingan was a pain in the ass, but this situation did seem worse than that though. He had gotten caught in the woods, been flanked and taken down by this knife-wielding pissed-off rubber-guy. The first thing they went for were his hands and now four of his fingers on his right hand were broken, bent, useless and tied behind his back. He couldn't make any hand signs even if he had the chance. Yes, the Sharingan was a pain in the ass, but it was nothing like this.

"They got fuckin' Mitsuo..." Shinchai huffed despondently and pushed her soaked hair from her eyes. "I can't believe you left him..." She mumbled and offered him a quick glare as she looked out toward the drowned clearing where the copy-nin and that kunoichi stood staring at Mitsuo in the rain.

Yori narrowed his eyes and defended his actions. "I'm not fighting alongside that idiot. He'd kill me same as he would them. I can't fight all three of them at once..." Why was she acting all bent out of shape? She knew how Mitsuo was once he got all riled up. Fuckin' women and their crazy emotions.

"Bet you didn't even try...just left him there, dick in the wind to fight the copy-ninja and that pink chakra bitch. You saw what she did to Kanta a few months ago. Popped his fuckin' arm off like a chicken wing..." She made a popping noise and opened her hand up quickly in an exploding gesture as she scoffed.

Yori shrugged. It was true. He'd seen his odds flash across his mind when that Kunoichi knocked him hard on his ass across the mud. So he made a decision, went to see what Shinchai was up to. Mitsuo was stupid for trying to take them both on. He was just reaping what he had sowed. You had to be realistic about these things.

Shinchai frowned and stopped her feet before they all left the woods fully and came into view. "What do we do?"

Yori had a plan. He always had a plan and that's why he was the leader. That was probably the _only_ reason. "We already fucked up part of it, but we can still do enough to get paid."

Shikamaru's pulse was thrumming in his throat. His stomach was clenched tightly as the rain washed over him and the cold breeze bit at his skin. His lungs felt heavy and his nervousness wouldn't allow him enough air, but the knife pressed firmly against his throat offered him little chance of breathing more deeply even if he tried. He closed his eyes and tried to steady his erratic heartbeat. _'Maybe they will trade me for their teammat_e...' His logic tried valiantly to smother his hope, but hope was all he had right now, and it would not be defeated.

Yori sniffed and shook the rain from his hair as he spit out another mouthful of blood. "Break his jaw...we don't need him talking when I do this..." He ordered his subordinate with a sigh as he moved the knife from the shadow-users throat to press against his lower back.

* * *

"Kakashi..." Sakura's heart dropped. Movement to her right stopped her dead in her tracks as she caught a shuffling of movement from the corner of her eye. "...They have him..." the words fell from her mouth in a disbelieving whisper.

The copy-ninja spun around as the thing he feared came to life. Shikamaru stood between the enemies, bound and bloody. A long knife glinted a dark promise under his throat. His face was a bruised mess, his jaw was bent at an awkward angle and it had started to swell. His dark eyes watched them with nothing but defeat and pain as he was pushed, stumbling from the woods. The rain and mud that already inhibited his weak movements caused him to drop to one knee and be jerked back up harshly from under his arm.

Sakura dragged the fire-user to his feet; her chakra dripping arms locked his in place behind his back as Kakashi slid his Kunai under the man's throat mimicking that of their approaching enemies. If they killed Shikamaru, their friend would die too, no matter what kind of information he had in his brain. He would die a second later.

When they were about twenty yards apart they stopped and exchanged long stares. Yori was never one for long stares so he rolled his eyes and with a frown proceeded as he planned. "Give me the fuckin' translation _and_ the replica from Tani you made..." He tightened the knife around the shadow user's throat, a small slip of red dripping from under the sharp edge.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. That's not what he expected. "Let Shikamaru go or we'll kill him." He tapped his Kunai against the man's neck and looked back to the enemies.

Yori shrugged. "I don't care about him...just give me what I asked for..."

"Yori!" Shinchai snarled in anger.

He ignored his teammate's outburst. "I'm counting to five...there won't be a fuckin' six. I'll slit his throat and leave you to clean up the mess..." He nodded toward the defeated looking Mitsuo who stood in the arms of the enemy and shot Shinchai a pointed glare as he spoke. " ...Hand the books to that **idiot** and let him go...and I'll give you your friend back..." He wanted to kill that moron for getting caught like this, but he wanted to do it himself. It would, however, serve Mitsuo right if he got his fire-breathing neck left wide open in the rain by the copy-ninja for being so fuckin' stupid.

"Kakashi..." Sakura muttered and almost choked on the lump of fear that had lodged itself in her throat. Shikamaru was pale, his eyes were unfocused and drifted closed as he leaned heavily in the arms of his captors. He needed help. He needed it now.

The copy-ninja froze; his heart beat quickly and the blood pounded through his body. He had no choice. Shikamaru was a teammate and a friend. He had already lost too many friends over the years. He couldn't lose another. He was Asuma and Shikaku's boy. He was a steadfast and loyal shinobi of Konoha. Shikamaru was worth ten of that bastard in Sakura's arms, but-.

"_One..."_

"Let me fuckin' go you stupid cunt..." The fire-user tried to jerk away from Sakura's grip as he found renewed vigor in the eyes of freedom.

"Still alive Mits!?" Shinchai called out from across the distance separating them. A small smile stole across her face as she noted her teammate was still alive and kicking. He didn't look like he could kick very far though. She glanced over at the shadow-user that slumped and panted next to her. Well, at least Mitsuo could kick farther than that guy.

"_Two..."_

"Shikamaru...?!" Sakura called out as he dropped to his knees in the mud and was allowed to stay there, the knife still held tight beside his jugular in the hands of the blond man named Yori.

"_Three..."_ Yori counted listlessly as his bored gaze drifted up from the man that had fallen to his knees to the people holding Mitsou.

"Take the fuckin' books..." Kakashi reached into the pouch at his back where he kept the two books at all times and held it out for the enemies to see.

"Open them..." Yori demanded and narrowed his eyes as he stared across the distance at the two notebooks. When the masked man complied and used a finger to flip open one, then the other, it confirmed what he was looking for. "Give them to him...and let him go..."

"You let Shikamaru go first..." Sakura spat out harshly as she tightened the hold she had on the fire-users arms.

"Fuck you..." Shinchai answered in defiance of Sakura's demands. "You want him? You do what we say."

Kakashi exhaled deeply and slapped the books against their hostage's chest. "Let him go Sakura..."

She complied after a moment of uncertainty and stepped back away from the man who killed Sai.

"You ready Mitsuo..?" Yori called out to the man who took the books in his hand and stepped forward.

"Yeah..." The fire-user answered dully with a frown. He wasn't going to die, but his pride had been mortally wounded. He felt pretty fuckin' down on himself at the moment as he pushed his chakra through his arms and legs and noted how little he had left. He really hoped when they ran, they weren't pursued for long. He would die of shame if he got caught again.

"Now let Shikamaru go..." Kakashi called out through the downpour, his eyes trained on the unsettling way the Nara leaned against Yori's legs for support as the knife pressed into his throat. His chest heaved deeply under the effort to breath. He looked bad.

Yori's blade slid across the shadow users pale throat and left a gaping pulsing wound that covered the front of him in seconds with his own red life before he shoved him face first into the mud with his foot and a deep careless mumble. "...All yours..."

"**NO!**" Sakura's heart jumped forward with her feet at the same time the three rogues darted out of the clearing as fast as they could.

The copy-ninja paused breathless in the rain as his medic flew to their comrade. Did he chase after the three? What was the answer? Shikamaru's blood fell faster than the rain that dropped down from the sky. It flowed down along the little streams that worked their way toward the creek. It was soaking into the earth. It was everywhere. The red.

"**KAKASHI HELP ME!" **His mind was made up for him as she screamed his name. He was at Shikamaru's side in seconds.

Tears ran down her face as she tried to turn over her friend that gasped shallowly through the laceration in his neck. "Shikamaru, it's ok..." She sobbed out as she tried to comfort him the best she could. Her hands overflowed with the life that poured from him through the fleshy tear in his neck as she pushed her chakra into the flood. It was like trying to dam a rushing river and only having a few minutes to do it in. She needed time.

He couldn't speak. He couldn't breathe, his heart was a blur of beats all working to push the blood through his body to keep him alive. But it only succeeded in pouring it all over the soaked ground. He was cold and tired. He hurt everywhere. He couldn't catch his breath; his chest was on fire with the need for air. His mind was screaming incoherently at his body to act. He tried to inhale deeply, like he always did when he needed to calm down. Blood filled his mouth and his lungs and he fought not to drown in the thick red liquid that blanketed him. He could see her was crying. He could feel her hands on him; feel the tingle of the healing chakra as she tried to piece him back together. He could see his face, see his mismatched eyes. He could just make out the warmth of his hands that tried to hold him up out of the mud. That was all he could do as he laid their bleeding.

Kakashi helped turn over their bloody friend as he shuddered and gasped to stay alive. He tried to hold him up from the cold thick mud that was trying to claim him and suck him down. "Shikamaru, stay here...stay with us..." He shook his head as he watched the man's eyes flutter shut and pop back open. The fear there was palpable as he struggled to cling to the life that was trying so hard to escape him. He looked on as Sakura worked feverishly to close the split in his throat, her green chakra covering his neck and seeping into his wound. He had lost so much blood. He was still losing it. It was everywhere. He looked down and a sharp stab of panic caught him in the chest. "Sakura..."

She refused to look up as she poured her life into Shikamaru. "Kakashi I...he's still...I can't ...something is wrong." No matter how quickly she closed the wound he was still fading. His heart beat, a thundering mess just a minute ago, was slowing and weakening rapidly. "Something's...wrong...it's..." She renewed her efforts.

"Sakura...please look!" Kakashi called desperately to get her attention while he held out one of the hands that had supported their comrade out of the mud. It was bright, red and wet.

"Oh Gods..." She cried and she scrambled over his body, putting his head in her lap and turning him on his side slightly as she dragged his shirt and vest up to try to find the source of the blood. There it was. He had been stabbed, deeply. "No no..." She cried as her heart gave way to the knowledge that starred her in the face. "No no no...Shikamaru..."

She tried to press her hands to the wound on his back where the laceration had dug into his kidney. Her chakra dropped into the wound and searched. The facts hit her in the chest and took her breath away. The damage was done. He didn't have enough blood. She couldn't do anything. "No..." She looked up at Kakashi and saw the grief already swimming in his eyes. "I can't...I can't..."

Kakashi watched as his medic sat back on her knees in shock and held Shikamaru's head in her lap, tears fell from her face as she looked down at the man she held in her arms. He moved to her side and grabbed his dying friend's weak hand in his own. Anguish broke free and a tear dropped down his face as he tried to keep his heart from ripping from his chest in an attempt to flee the pain. "Shikamaru...it's going to be ok. Help is coming..." He lied to the failing gaze of the man who always saw through to the truth. He felt Shikamaru's hand grip him desperately and he squeezed it back reassuringly as another tear fell and slid down into his mask, and was followed by another. "It's going to be ok. We're going home. It's going to be ok..."

Sakura nodded to Kakashi's words. "They're coming Shika...We're going to go home." She forced a soft smile through the tears in her eyes as she ran her fingers gently over his forehead and smoothed his hair back into place as his dark eyes tried to focus on her face. She offered the only comfort she could to the man she had known all her life as he drifted farther away from them by the second. "We'll be there in a minute..." His breath was coming rapidly as his body tried in vain to cling to life with more than half of his blood spilled out and surrounding them. His eyes were staying shut longer each time he closed them and his heart was slowing down. "It's ok...We're almost there...It's going to be ok Shikamaru..." Her voice cracked and she hugged his head in her lap tightly as a sob tore her apart.

With a shallow exhale Shikamaru left them both alone in the mud and slipped away into the warm black that had been calling him. He would never again hear his mom question him non-stop about settling down and finding a nice girl. He would never get to see that technique Ino was working on that she had been so excited about. He would never watch the clouds with Choji again on a warm summer's day. He would miss seeing Kurenai and Asuma's child grow up to become a shinobi Konoha would be so proud of.

He was gone like so many before him, and he left so many more behind.

* * *

Naruto's eyes flickered open and focused on the distant horizon, thinking of home and his friends. It had been over a week. The task of remaining with Hinata was a heavy burden that he tried to take in stride.

His blue eyes roamed across the training area as he felt her clear crisp chakra signal approaching. He had been meditating for hours trying to pinpoint the source of uneasiness that was sucking at him. His friends had gone without him. His country was under attack. And he was sitting in Suna meditating. That was the problem.

Hinata dropped lightly beside Naruto, feeling the fatigue of her almost non-stop attempts at mastering the jutsu. "Two days Naruto..."

He felt his shoulders slump slightly. He wanted to leave two days ago. "...ok..." He had no other choice.

"I'm sorry..." She was apologizing every time she saw him the past few days. She could feel the anxiety pouring off of him. He was constantly looking off in the distance. He could only think of home and she was trapping him here with her.

Naruto forced a smile that he didn't feel and closed his eyes to try to center himself again. "It's ok Hinata. The jutsu is important...you're doing your best."

She was doing her best, but maybe it wasn't good enough. She couldn't find it in herself to agree with Naruto so she stayed silent beside him.

"They should all get to Konoha in two days. Then we can leave too..." He hoped it was true.

Again she had no response for him so he turned to look at her and met her white-eyed stare. She looked on the verge of tears. "Hinata, I'm sorry. I know I'm being impatient..."

She shook her head and reached out to grip his hand. "It's alright. You're worried and you're waiting for me...Two days Naruto. I can almost do it completely unassisted."

He reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear with a smile. "That's good. You'll get the jutsu and get the information from the guy in Konoha. Tsunade is relying on you..."

That kind of pressure didn't help her fluttering nerves. She let out a short exhale and nodded her head as her pulse flared to life. "I'll...um...its.." She nodded again. Gods she felt like a fool sometimes.

Naruto smiled a real smile this time as his girlfriend warred with her flustered emotions. He reached over to put his arm around her neck and pressed a heavy kiss to her temple. "You're amazing Hinata..."

She leaned into his chest and sighed deeply. "What do you think everyone is doing in Konoha right now?"

* * *

"You're leaving Konoha!?" Shizune asked incredulously.

Tsunade shrugged, nodded, scoffed and threw her hands in the air all the while she tore around her office, looking for what she would need for the journey. "...Yes...I need to meet with the Daimyo and look at what is happening for myself. There has got to be something to do about the poisoned lands they reported." She stopped rampaging through her desk and turned her eyes on her oldest friend. "...And you're going with me to help..."

Shizune quirked her mouth in displeasure. "But-"

"The Daimyo needs assistance. The country is in chaos. The best farmlands in Fire are unusable. Some of our biggest ports for imports and exports have been destroyed. The people are afraid to travel. Already the merchants are raising prices on their goods. I've sent teams out to the areas to help where they can, but I need to go too. They need to see the Hokage working with their country's leaders."

"How long will we be gone...?" Shizune sighed and braced her hands on the desk. She knew why Tsunade was doing this, but she wasn't sure it was the right answer. There didn't seem to be any right answers. Every option they had before them could be turned around with misconstrued criticism. When things didn't go right everyone blamed the leaders. Things were definitely not going right in Fire these days and all eyes were on the Hokage, waiting for her to save them all.

"As long as it takes..." She pulled out a glass and poured herself a drink as Shizune looked on with a frown. Tsunade had been hitting the bottle harder than she usually did. The stress was getting to her. She wasn't as young as she used to be and the last war had almost done her in.

A throat clearing from behind the doorway grabbed their attention.

"Tsunade-sama, everything has been arranged like you ordered for your departure." Akihisa bowed slightly from the doorway.

"Thank you. We will be leaving in a few hours. I expect regular updates from you and the others I left in charge. The enemy can't evade us forever. We will find them, kill them and rebuild. We always do." The council, for all of their petty power mongering and constant bickering could at least be counted on to put Konoha first during times of strife. A common danger always united even the bitterest of enemies.

"Of course Hokage-sama..." He replied curtly as his eyes drifted to the glass of sake, then over to Shizune. "You'll be going too Shizune-san?"

The woman in question nodded. "Yes Mizuki-san. I believe we can help discover a way to remove the toxins from the farmland. It shouldn't be too difficult once we discover the compounds of the poison." She gave him a small smile.

"That would be very helpful. Fire depends on that land to grow our food..." He returned her grin with his own odd tight smile, shoved his hands in his pockets and turned back to the Hokage. "Yamato has requested to go to the ports to try to assist in rebuilding. He said he would be by to talk to you before you left."

Tsunade blew out her breath and thought the request over in her head. Yamato was a very useful shinobi and would work miracles for the people at the docks, but she didn't want him so far away while trouble was still brewing. She was leaving the village but she didn't want to leave it completely empty at the same time. She needed to keep some of her weapons close to home so they could react quickly and go where they were needed. Konoha was strategically positioned in Fire country for that very reason. Maybe once she had a few more weapons at home he could go help at the ports.

Speak of the wood-user and he would arrive. "Tsunade-sama." Yamato's distinct voice drew all their eyes. "I wanted to-"

"I know what you want Yamato, and no. The ports can wait. When Sakura, Shikamaru and Kakashi arrive in a few days ask me again." She was undecided on when to send him now or later. So she would buy herself some time to think it over.

Yamato took the denial of his request with a blank face. "Yes, Tsunade-sama. Kakashi-sempai will be back in a few days?" He asked with tiniest hint of curiosity. It had been a long time since he had seen his old Anbu friend. Too long.

Tsunade nodded with a frown. Their timing was inconvenient. She missed Sakura more than she would admit and she could use her on the journey to the farmlands. She also would have liked to have Shikamaru and Kakashi's input on this situation; they had both been irreplaceable during the war. "Yes." She tapped the map that held the orange dots that tracked their check-ins. "Naruto's summon reported their location last night. They are only a few days away."

"Tsunade-sama, excuse me. I need to go... Have a safe journey. We will be in contact." Hands still in his pockets, Akihisa nodded a farewell before he strode from the room to tend to pressing matters.

Yamato tilted his head slightly as he turned to follow the Anbu captain out of the door. No need to hang around when he had nothing important to say. The Hokage had made her decision and he would contact her as soon as the others returned to see if she had changed her mind. End of story. "Be safe Hokage-sama..." And he was gone out of the office a few moments later.

The Sannin finished off the last of her glass and poured another. It was bad luck to have only an odd number of drinks. Everyone knew that. "Go get ready Shizune. Find Genma and tell him you're leaving."

Shizune sighed and cast her eyes to the floor. "He's out of the village. He got sent out two days ago Tsunade-sama."

"Ahh..." She nodded apologetically; she remembered signing that order somewhere in all the orders she had been signing over the past few days. She felt like an ass for forgetting; it obviously worried her friend. "Sorry Shizune..."

Shizune picked up her paperwork off the desk and turned to leave. She needed to get ready. She didn't have time to stand here and angst over her situation with Genma. So he would come home and not know she was gone. So she would leave and not tell him bye. There were worse things in life. She had seen most of them. "I'll report back when I have all the supplies together."

* * *

Norio was bent over the scroll as he waited for the response to his question. He glanced up at the clock on the wall to check the time as he clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

"We're early..." Ryota offered to Norio's back as he picked a piece of food from between his teeth in a very unattractive way. His beard had grown thick and dark since they had left Tani. He looked like the very definition of a killer. Really it was a bit over the top, even for Norio's extravagant tastes.

"Only by twenty minutes." Jun followed Norio's eyes to the clock and peered down at the scroll, her flaming hair falling unkempt around her shoulders. "They should be happy. Assigning us all those ports to destroy... in just a few hours." She rolled her eyes. "Assholes...we almost got caught...then what would they have done? We should have had another team to help us..."

"Jun, Jun, Jun" Norio clucked at her with a smile. "We did fantastic, and we did it alone..."

"Yeah we did..." Ryota agreed as he kicked off his shoes to lay back on the bed with a groan of pleasure. He loved it when they had nice places to sleep in.

Jun pulled her head back and wrinkled her nose as the scruffy man lounged across the bed. She was not sleeping there now. He looked like he had fleas. "Ryota...you should shave...you look disgusting." She whispered accusatory at him. It was like he wanted to be caught, looking like that.

"You think so? I thought it kind of looked cool...and made me look tough..." He reached up and scratched at the beard, a hurt look dropping over his face as he processed her comment.

Seriously? He was like eight feet tall and built like a barge. Did he really have to worry about looking tough? She grimaced and shrugged. She hadn't meant to hurt his big dumb feelings. "Yeah...too tough...you look like you should be arrested for any crime in a ten mile radius..."

Ryota's furrowed his brow, thoroughly injured at Jun's thoughts on his appearance. "What do you think Norio?

Norio turned from the still blank scroll and eyed the giant on the bed. "Yes. Maybe even twenty miles." He broke into his signature grin and bit back a laugh. "It was fear inducing to our victims no doubt...your commitment to your role of 'bad guy' is admirable."

Jun sighed and ran her index finger across the large scar on her neck as she tried to figure out who was more ridiculous. Ryota who always looked confused and angry or Norio who always looked happy and friendly. Maybe it was herself, for even trying to figure it out.

"Ahh an answer." Norio quipped brightly.

'_Do not contact us until the designated time Norio.'_

Jun looked over her leader's shoulder at the words on the scroll. "Hmmm..."

'_Sorry. What are our next orders?' _Norio scratched out the apology with an air of shame and felt Jun's hand rest lightly on his shoulder; an attempt to bolster his confidence. It only made him feel worse. He hated being called out. He had already failed everyone so much in Tani.

'_Iwaki is your next target. Be there in five days...stay away from Yochio and Ozumi on your way through that area. Leaf teams are already in place in those two villages.' _The orders slithered out quickly.

'_What do we do once we get there?'_

'_Contact us as soon as you arrive. There is a delicate situation that needs to be handled with extreme caution. It is __very__ important Norio. Your team is the best suited for this task.'_

Norio's grin stretched wide at the compliment. Even if it wasn't an intended compliment, he took it all the same.

"Looks like they need something blown up..." Jun deadpanned as she read the words.

"We are the best suited for that task." Norio turned to stare up at his scarred comrade after jotting down that they understood the orders.

"Where are we going?" Ryota yawned sleepily from his position on the bed.

"Iwaki." Jun replied as she walked to go sit down at the table on the other side of the room and find their target on the map.

"I waaa kiii..." Ryota frowned. "What's it got there?"

Norio stood up and stretched his arms above his head, happy to have another assignment to complete. "Our next mission."

* * *

"Hold on. Something's coming." Genma held up his hand to signal the rest of their four men team and peered in the direction he could feel the flutter of chakra.

"That is not the direction we've been assigned." The young Anbu scoffed at the senbon-user.

Genma frowned._ '...This guy is an ass...he should have just drawn an ass on his mask...instead of whatever that is...' _ He rolled his eyes and ignored the Anbu, looking toward the green monster at his side. "What do you think?"

Gai pursed his lips in thoughts and tilted his head. "We should check it out...it's tiny but..." He didn't know, it seemed like he knew it from somewhere. "We should always be thorough. I'm sure Anbu can appreciate that." He smiled over at the two masked men on their reconnaissance team.

"We can appreciate following orders." The Anbu-ass scoffed looking toward his other masked comrade who made no motion to agree or disagree.

"OOOhhhhhh!" Gai beamed snapping his fingers and pointed through the trees toward the tiny chakra. "I know who that is!"

Genma quirked a brow and shrugged. "Ok." Gai knew who it was and wanted to go see. That seemed a good enough reason to go check it out.

The not-an-ass Anbu shrugged, nodded in silence and began to follow the other two.

Gai looked over his shoulder at the Anbu standing there looking as irritated as a man can look when his face is completely covered up. "Come on three against one. We win."

With a sigh of defeat he joined the other three and they sped toward the chakra.

* * *

Sasuke roused from his sleep as the door to the guard room slammed shut loudly. Groggily he lifted one lid as he raised his head a few inches to see what all the noise was about. He dropped it back down on the thin mattress as no answer was provided.

Half an hour later he was brought back from his dark dreams to his dark reality by the door slamming back open. The sight of bars in front of your face every time you opened your eyes was less than a reassuring sight, and it was one he was very familiar with. He groaned, back aching from the board like cot, and turned to put his feet on the ground, bracing his elbows on his knees, face in his hands. The heavy footsteps approached his cell and swept right by. He heard Kanta's door get pulled open and the big man groan in his dainty voice with protest at being woken.

He narrowed his eyes as the sound of muted voices stretched down the hallway. One tiny voice he recognized and one deeper in pitch that he didn't. He didn't know all of their names, but he knew all of their voices. This one sounded angry and demanding. _'Great...'_ It was probably some new, up-jumped rookie trying to flex his strong arm on Konoha's worst.

He sighed and tried to remind himself of all the reasons he had for being locked back in the Six. Why he had agreed to do this in the first place? Why Tsunade had put him here. Why? _'I did it to myself...I turned my back on everyone for power...I lost everything for nothing...I'm here to pay for what I did...I'm trying to do something right...I need to do something right...'_ He had to tell himself the same thing every day. The anger was still there, he could feel it like a dark passenger that slept in his consciousness. He only needed to open the door to wake it. It would come screaming to life and take over again. He kept the door closed and locked, but some days the bars would press against him and the urge to feel his power would prick at his brain. On those days he thought about that door, how good it would feel to run free again, and that scared him. That was something that didn't happen very often to the Uchiha heir.

The harsh whispers continued for only a few minutes before Sasuke heard the door clang shut again on Kanta's cell. He pressed his face deep into his hands with a sigh and prepared to listen to some fool scold him on proper behavior, how much of a piece of shit he was and how he could have never ever defeated the leaf. He had heard it all before when he had first been brought to the Six over a year ago; before Naruto had somehow managed to get him transferred out.

Many of the Shinobi he had known from his time as a gennin had come to see him after a while. Some even offered forgiveness as they followed in Naruto's footsteps. They were the minority. He was still hated in many circles of Konoha and it was well earned. So the idea that this new guard would come in to his cell and gloat in the face of the infamous Sasuke Uchiha was not uncommon.

The heavy footsteps however did not pass back in front of his cell. They didn't stop outside of his door and open it. They didn't return to the guard room to finish their shift. They went the other direction. They stopped only briefly as the door out of the Six was opened by the guard on the other side and they disappeared as the door was again shut.

Sasuke raised his face from his eyes and looked out into the hall. _'What was that about..?' _He stood and turned his head both ways to crack his neck before he walked to the bars and glanced across the aisle into the rogue's cell. To his surprise his one-armed falsetto's eyes were already trained hard on his cell. He nodded toward the door's out of the Six. "What was that about?"

Kanta just stared, his jaw clenched in anger.

'_Must have really pissed him off...' _Sasuke shrugged nonchalantly and raised a brow in question. "Pissed you off?"

"Nope." Kanta practically simmered.

"Ok..." The sharingan user was feeling a little off put. This wasn't how Kanta normally behaved. Something had happened. "You-"

"You're too fucking nosey Uchiha. Just do yourself a favor keep your mouth shut." He growled in his whimpery voice.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed with irritation. What the fuck was this guy's issue? "You don't know who you're talking to-"

"I know exactly who I'm talking to." He spat out and turned from the door, the sound of the weak springs on his bed underlining the end of their conversation in bold.

"Tchh..." He squeezed his fingers around the bars in aggravation. _'...What the fuck?' _ He turned his eyes back to the door out of the lowest level of the prison; he could just make out the edge. _'Who was that...?'_ He wished Neji was on guard, but the Hyuuga's shift had ended a few hours ago. He pushed away from the door and began his ritualistic pacing. His mind flipped the pages on the book of information he had tucked away on Kanta while he tried to figure out how he had managed to anger the big man so much when he was asleep. The answer was in there somewhere. He just had to find the right page.

* * *

"Yori!"

The team-leader glanced over his shoulder and dropped to a lazy walk, then stopped completely to lean against the trunk of a huge tree. He let his eye drop hard on his two comrades. The woman who was hovered over their fire-user and the fire-user who hovered just above the ground, his hand braced on a rock as he tried to steady himself. Yori rolled his eyes. Mitsuo was always so dramatic.

"You could fuckin' help..." Shinchai growled as she assisted the weary Mitsuo to sit on the rock, her eyes burning a hole into their team leader.

"I got him back didn't I? I caught ponytail for you while you danced around in the trees like a fuckin' fairy. I got the fuckin' notebooks. I made sure that they were bargaining Mitsuo and the Intel for a dead-man didn't I? I did everything..." He reached his hand back to grab the liquor from his pack, remembered something else and turned back to Shinchai, eyes narrowed. "...And I remembered my fuckin' pack..."

Shinchai huffed and then pouted. In her rush to escape the clearing in one piece and get to Mitsuo. She had forgotten her pack. It didn't have much, just some extra supplies. Oh, and her fucking cat. She kneeled down in front of Mitsuo as she whispered her reply with anger and refused to look over at their team leader. "Of course you didn't forget your pack. It has your liquor...but you were just going to leave Mitsuo there...Fuck you Yori. We've all been together for almost three years now..." She shrugged and shook her head in disappointed disbelief.

"Sorry about Mino..." Mitsuo panted holding his head in his hands. His head fucking hurt and so did his ribs. Yori had practically whipped them at break-neck speed as soon as they got out of the clearing. They had been going all day long and the sun was beginning to dip down toward the horizon. He was weak, tired and he felt like he had been dropped off a cliff. Fuck that little bitch could hit hard.

"It's alright Mits…just a cat." She lied; she had liked that little guy a whole lot. She hoped he was ok.

They looked up in surprise as Yori, silent as a shadow, had moved from the tree and crouched down beside Shinchai with a deep sigh of frustration. He rummaged through his pack as they looked in confusion.

"Here stupid..." Yori shoved a tiny bottle in Mitsuo's face. "Pills...helps the pain." He turned his gaze to Shinchai and leaned toward her, invading her personal space and causing her to shift away slightly, his dark eyes unreadable. "I wasn't going to leave him...they needed to think we didn't give a fuck about him in order to get the upper hand..." He tapped his head and then pointed at her accusingly like he always did. "You've both been with me for almost three years… and I need you both to finish this mission so I can get paid...think some-fuckin'-times Shinchai..." He got up with a scowl and strode back to his tree.

"You give a fuck...?" Mitsuo croaked. A miserable teasing smile pulled at his lips as he fumbled with the top on the bottle of pills. "...That's fuckin' adorable Yo-"

"Don't you fuckin' start you stupid idiot…." Yori snapped, refusing to look up as he unscrewed the top of his liquor. "You almost screwed everything up. You need to start using that little piece of shit between your ears you call a brain..."

Shinchai bit back a laugh at the way Mitsuo's face fell so quickly as he was reprimanded and she couldn't help but rub a little salt in his wounded pride. "Should've taken that shadow-user instead of wanting that Kunoichi..."

"It wasn't _just_ her..." He mumbled dejectedly.

"Oh...that's right...you were going to fight Konoha's copy-ninja...**AND**...the Hokage's apprentice...**alone**..." She mocked while she tugged the pills from his hand, opened it and gave him a few.

Mitsuo shrugged. "Whatever..." He already felt like shit, literally and figuratively. He had no confidence left to defend himself with. So he took the pills, swallowed them with a wince and refused to respond.

"We need to keep moving..." Yori took the last swig of his drink and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand as he offered his comrades a quick glance. "We'll walk a while..." They were both more trouble than they were worth. Those two idiots.

Shinchai smiled at the back of Yori's head as he walked away. "Come on Mits." She stood as she ruffled his hair and laughed when he slapped it away with scowl. "We got to get out of here before your pink-haired girlfriend comes for you..."

Yori spun around and laid his eyes on Shinchai as he held up his hand to stop them from moving. "Hold on...I just remembered something..." He furrowed his brow in thought as he dropped the pack on the ground and pulled the contact scroll from his pocket. He was pretty sure he was remembering correctly. Oh well if he wasn't. "I was supposed to contact them anyways when we finished..."

"What are you going to tell them?" Mitsuo winced, thinking over his failure.

"Nothing they won't figure out..." A small smirk pulled on his usually tight lips. "...But for a little extra money...I'll tell them something I bet they don't know..."

Shinchai shrugged in answer to Mitsuo's questioning gaze. She didn't know what the fuck Yori was up to. It seemed she never did.

* * *

The sun had shifted across the sky as she sat in the thick mud. Sakura sat with Shikamaru's head still in her lap; he was devoid of the warmth he was once capable of offering. He was gone. He had been here. Then he was gone. He was alive...now he was dead. She was a medic, but she failed him. He died and she let it happen.

Kakashi had gotten up numbly in silence and cast his eyes around the area, searching. He had lost more than one friend today and he needed to bring him home too. He found the area he was sure Pakkun had come running from to warn them and walked to it slowly, his mind refusing to acknowledge the loss just yet.

It didn't take much of a search. Shiba had almost made it back. The blood was soaked into his coat and the signs of the struggle the little ninken had put up were all around him. He had tried to do his job until the very end and it broke what little was left of Kakashi's heart. He dropped to his knees and rubbed his hand gently over the side of the dog's head. "You did good Shiba...I'm so sorry." His chest constricted with the stab of anguish as he clenched his fingers in the dogs fur. He squeezed his eyes shut to ward off the painful image of his panting, happy friend, stiff and bloody on the forest floor. The image of Shikamaru, a smirk on his face flashed across his mind and he had to get up. He had to get up or he'd stay there forever.

He slid his hands under the body of his furry companion and hefted him up with a grunt. The faint, but familiar smell of his dog drifted toward him as he held him close, feeling lost and empty. "Come on Shiba..." He muttered softly to the dog that was pressed against his chest and couldn't hear him anymore as he made his way slowly from the woods, waded across the flooded creek, and kneeled back down by his medic.

Sakura turned to her Jounin and the dead ninken he placed ever so gently on the ground, like he was afraid to hurt him. A few more tear fell down her cheeks. "I'm sorry..." She shook her head, her eyes still locked on Shiba. The goofy dog that preferred cats over squirrels and had never forgiven Kakashi for the time he washed them all in orange scented shampoo once. He had told her about it almost every single time they stepped a foot near water. The memories cracked her resolve and she leaned forward over Shikamaru with a sob. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you...I'm so sorry." Her body trembled with the force of her emotions and guilt as she begged forgiveness from the man who could never give it to her. "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry Shikamaru. Please..."

The sight of her guilt was like looking into a mirror of his emotions. He was the leader on this expedition. They were his responsibility. So many people had died under his care. He was supposed to protect them and he had failed them all. He hung his head as the losses began to add up and press on him. He couldn't breathe, it was too heavy. He reached up to pull his mask down as he sucked in a deep breath to combat the weight that was threatening to crush him. "This is my fault..." He whispered. He could see them all. The bodies of the people he had sworn to protect all laid out in front of him, a sea of bloodied and broken trust, and their ghosts that walked beside him every day. "I should have..." The options flowed endlessly through his mind; the different ways he could have done things. The ways he could have saved Shikamaru, instead of sitting back and watching as he died a horrible and terrifying death.

"I should have known they already hurt him." Sakura lashed out in anger, her voice full of the hate she felt for herself. "I should have known...I let him die. If I could have been faster...if I had gone to help him quicker...If I had checked him over properly...If i had done anything-"

"Sakura..." Kakashi lifted his head as his pink-haired kunoichi tore herself apart, out loud like he was doing silently to himself inside. He shook his head and reached out for her with a hand.

"**No**...**Don't...**" She slapped his hand away and kept her eyes on Shikamaru's blank face as a wave of guilt hit her. She was alive and Kakashi was alive. They were breaking the rules, something Shikamaru never did. And they were alive. He was better than they were and he had died. It wasn't fair. "It's not fair!" She screamed at her dead friend before raising her eyes to the pained expression on Kakashi's face.

It wasn't fair. It never was. When he reached out to touch her face again she leaned her cheek into his hand and her warm tears fell quietly as he watched her. He had no words of comfort. He had nothing except for her, and she was as lost as he was. "We need to go Sakura...we can't stay here...we need to go." He whispered.

"We can't leave Shikamaru here alone..." She looked over at Shiba. "...Either of them..." She reached up and pressed her hand to his that was against her face, meeting his eyes. His eyes that spoke of his own silent fight to maintain a grip on his emotions. He was wandering in the forest of the left behind, he had been there for years. She had tried to help him find his way out after Sasuke and the war, but now she knew, once you went there, you could never get out. You just had to find the others who had been left behind and wander with them, together.

"We won't leave them..." He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and ran his thumb over her cheekbone lightly.

They both turned as the tiny pulses of chakra they both recognized swam into their senses.

A minute passed and Pakkun and Uhei darted out of the woods, looking around wildly for their summoner and their pink-haired friend. When the two ninken laid their eyes on the scene by the creek they both slunk low to the ground. They had been too late. It had taken them too long.

A minute later four Konoha shinobi stepped into the clearing after the dogs they had followed.

"Kakashi..." Gai whispered in horror and was the first to step toward the two bloodied members of team seven that sat alone with the dead.

"Gai..." The copy-ninja looked up toward his friend and was blanketed with shame and guilt. He had done it again. He'd let more friends die. He shrugged in confusion and looked down at Shiba and Shikamaru. "...They're dead..."

Genma's stomach hit the floor at the sight and he moved toward his two friends. Sakura was covered in blood, her own and Shikamaru's it seemed. Probably Kakashi's too. He crouched next to her and winced at her empty stare.

"Genma..." She shook her head and looked back to Shikamaru as she smoothed his hair back again. "I couldn't save him...I tried...I-"

"I know you did..." Genma nodded and laid a hand on her back softly. "We need to get back to Konoha..."

She glanced over to Kakashi who had brushed Gai's hand off his shoulder with a shake of his head. He looked up, found her gaze and held it. They both knew it was true.

They needed to get back to Konoha.

* * *

_**A/N**_

_That was hard for me to do..._

_R&R or just read...that's fine too._

_Ninken Ears._


	24. All of our mistakes

_Omg so freaking sorry this update took so long. I have been very busy and yes *shame* distracted. I got sick, had to catch up in class. Study for exams. Of course there is always work...Then there was a sullen Monk and a Very bad bloody meeting room that distracted my writing..._

_Then I went out-of-town for a conference for a few days._

_and...there is this certain stupidface... -_- pretty distracting..._

_Anywho...I realize I lost quite a few of you guys on that last chap. No hard feels. It's pretty traumatic for some people...I guess...but the show will go on. Even if it's only me reading it. _

_...also 'Hello..to you newbies' I see that I gained some of you guys that love to feel all fked up, confused, turmoiled and sad with me. _

_Fair Warning :: I am not yet done with those the Feels._

_I did change the category on this story...I feel like the romance part is sorta backburnered..and this is more of an Adventure/Drama in the long run..._

_Probably I should have put angst...but..meh..its like a sub category of drama...soo..whateves._

* * *

**_All of our mistakes_**

* * *

'_We just arrived; we are ten minutes southeast of Iwaki.'_ Norio crouched in the early morning sun above the contact scroll. Jun and Ryota stood idly behind him, tired after the five days journey to the seemingly unimportant town that required apparently the utmost of care.

'_Fantastic. There is a grain mill on the eastern edge of Iwaki. Tomorrow at noon, there will be two shinobi checking on the mill as they pass through town. I want your team to go in and execute the shinobi, but leave the mill standing.'_

'_Who are these two shinobi?' _Norio pursed his lips as he wrote. He didn't want to seem afraid, but honestly, two lone shinobi had caused him a world of trouble in Tani. He didn't want to underestimate again._ 'Are they dangerous?'_

'_No need to worry. They are not dangerous at all, but they are the relatives of some very important people. This should be very easy. But remember...do not use your kekkei-genkai. The mill must stay standing.'_

'_Yes, of course...We will make contact when the mission is complete.'_

'_We look forward to it.'_

Jun sighed deeply. "I guess they _didn't _need something blown up. This seems more like something Dai's team would be suited for..."

Ryota scratched at his face. It itched so bad since he shaved off his beard. "Come on Jun...just heal me." He pleaded, not caring about their new assignment at all.

Jun scoffed at the begging giant. "No, get out of my face. I'll heal you if you're sick, or dying. Not because you gave yourself a rash shaving off your disgusting beard you shouldn't have grown out in the first place..." She waved him away as he tried to point out the itchiest area on his neck. Gods he was so gross sometimes.

Norio grinned as he stood up and tucked away the scroll. "Well they wanted us to do it...so we will. And we'll do it better than Dai could ever dream about doing it."

That got Ryota's attention. "You think she dreams?" He wrinkled his nose at the thought of the bald tattooed leader of Asuka and Nobu. "I bet she doesn't even sleep. She's like a witch..."

Norio laughed brightly and patted Ryota on the shoulder. "Don't be scared of her-"

"Tskk...not scared...but have you seen what some of those poisons can do?" His brows dragged together as he thought about it.

Jun nodded in agreement. "Some of that stuff...I don't know. It's..." She shrugged, not sure how to articulate her unsettled feelings toward Dai and her kekkei-genkai.

"Alright alright alright, that's enough...We need to scout out Iwaki and that mill before tomorrow. Then we can rest tonight." Norio ordered brightly to regain his stalwart teammate's attention. They had work to do.

* * *

The copy ninja stood in silent vigil, hands tucked in pockets, face hidden behind his mask, guilt buried deep inside. It seemed like such a long time since he had stood at the memorial stone. Yet her he was again, another friend soon to be added. Another teammate. Another ghost added to those that followed him daily, and spoke of his failures with a voices only he could hear.

The three days journey back to Konoha was a blur, as were the past two days. He tried to keep a hold of the truth, remember the lies and control his emotions. The enemy was in Konoha and needed to be found. But no matter how many times he would tell himself this was the traitor's fault, the blame brushed off his attempts at reasoning and submerged itself deep in his chest where it said it belonged.

Sakura was a wreck. At least that's what he had heard, someone had told him about what had happened between her and Ino in the hospital. He hadn't been there. He should have been. He should have known how the Yamanaka would react when she had to face the fact that her best friend, her teammate and the man she had adored since childhood had been killed. Sakura had been there, watched it happen and had not been able to save him. Ino had lost it in the middle of the hospital on the pink-haired medic before Choji, awash in his own sadness, could drag her away.

He sighed deeply and closed his eye in exhaustion, thinking over what their next step should be. His contact with Sakura had been minimal since they arrived. He was immediately dragged to a debrief with, surprisingly, _not_ Tsunade. She was, from what he was told, on her way to evaluate the damage done in Fire and assist the Daimyo with a large group of Shinobi that had gone with her. The quick debrief only left the familiar shadow of the unknown on the horizon. They didn't ask questions, they didn't offer words of compassion, they didn't even berate him. They just listened, watched and documented everything he told them. They jotted down Shikamaru's death and let the proof speak for itself. It spoke in volumes and echoed throughout Konoha.

He had laid out the way things had gone from Suna to when they had the skirmish with the three enemy ninjas. He told his point of view of the way the fight had gone. He told of the exchange between prisoners. He had hesitated slightly, to swallow the lump in his throat, before he could speak about what happened after. _'The blonde kekkei-genkai user, Yori, slit his throat. Sakura tried to save him but was unable due to an already grievous injury. He died within minutes.'_ Three sentences. Three sentences to explain how he had watched Shikaku's son die, choking and panicked in the mud only a few days from home.

"Kakashi..."

The man in question pried his eye open slowly and stared ahead at the memorial stone. His shoulders felt so heavy. "Hnnn?"

"You've been out here for hours. Come on. Let's go back to town. You can make me some tea..." Gai let his eye slip from the mask-man he had been hunting for and just found, to the memorial stone. So many names, and more always on the way. Always.

Had he been here for hours? He did a quick check of his body. His fingers and toes were numb. His body was chilled. Yes, he'd probably been here for a while, it wasn't long enough. "It's ok Gai...I just need some time to think.."

Gai put his arm around his friend's shoulder and tugged him away from the large stone he tortured himself with. "Come on, you can think somewhere else...preferably while you make me some tea...you could use the practice." He nodded back toward the village and tried a light-hearted smile on just to see if it had any effect.

Kakashi gave up and let himself be led away. Gai wouldn't leave him alone until he got what he wanted. It was how these things went. He had learned to give in long ago to the unrelenting leaf-ninja he had known for so long.

They paused outside of his building when Kakashi informed Gai that his door was still broken before they ascended the fire escape and climbed in his window.

The copy-ninja went about the simple routine of making tea in his tiny rundown apartment. It seemed so out of place considering all that was going on. There was a traitor in Konoha. Naruto was stuck in Suna waiting for a team of shinobi to meet him and help him escort Hinata back into fire (a prudent decision made by the council, considering what had befallen his teammates on their way through Fire.) Shikamaru's body was to be put in the ground tomorrow morning. Someone was attacking Fire country in very strategic places and wreaking havoc on the country's moral and economy. And Hatake Kakashi was in his dusty, dim kitchen making jasmine green tea. It seemed so wrong.

Gai sat quietly on the faded once-blue-now-grayish couch, his leg crossed over his other knee and his patience boundless as Kakashi went through the small easy motions of brewing the tea he asked for. "You know that weapon shop a few blocks from Hokage tower? They are carrying some new sort of kunai with different seals on them. Tenten knows all about it, she's excited."

Kakashi handed Gai his requested tea and sat down quietly on the other side of the couch. "Oh yeah?" He answered in a weighted monotone voice. He didn't care about new Kunai, and neither did Gai.

"Yep. I told her though, no matter how many weapons you have, you could have thousands, and sometimes it's just not enough."

The copy-ninja felt certain it knew where this was going, but said nothing.

Gai continued after a small sip of the barely passable tea Kakashi had made. He really needed more practice. "Sometimes things just go wrong...and no matter how many weapons you have, or how strong you are..." His eyes locked on the profile of the silent mask-man. "...they aren't enough..."

Kakashi stared across the room, but saw none of it. He only replayed what had happened in that clearing by the creek. So many mistakes, so much he could have done differently. "It was my fault. I- I " He shook his head and stared into the cup of tea. How could he explain that he had been too distracted by Sakura? That he had let himself get overwhelmed; something that hadn't happened to him in years? That he had lost track of Shikamaru? That Sakura had abandoned the man she was fighting to come help him and neither one of them thought about helping Shikamaru until it was too late? How could he tell his friend that if they hadn't let their inappropriate relationship get in the way, Shikamaru would probably still be alive? "He's dead because of me Gai...it's the truth..."

"Kakashi...you made a few mistakes. You've been put in some difficult positions lately...it could happen to any of us. We've all lost teammates..."

"It's my fault we were put in that situation...I got..." He fell silent again, his pulse jumped in his throat under the stress of re living the incident.

"How could it be your fault Kakashi? You always do this… and try to blame yourself. But you're just human like the rest of us."

The silence in the room grew enormously as Gai waited for an answer and Kakashi drowned in his lies, guilt and duty to Konoha.

The copy ninja reached up and pulled his mask down with a deep sigh as he set the full cup of tea on the table in front of them both. It was too heavy, too much. He needed to give some of it away. " Gai… I-I've been sleeping with Sakura..."

It was Gai's turn to stagger in a marsh of reality now. He took a sip of his tea as he tried to buy himself time to form an intelligent reply. It wasn't enough time, so he clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "Wha- Uh...Why?" He frowned at his choice of question but let it stand alone.

Kakashi shrugged. The 'why' didn't matter now. The 'why' was obvious. It was the rest that was unclear. "...I don't know what to do...I haven't been able to see her since we got back...and I miss her Gai. In a way that I shouldn't. I can't think straight when I'm around her...and I can't think at all when she's not …What have we done?"

Gai blew out a deep breath; the anxiety coming off of his silver-haired friend was so thick he could almost smell it. "So it's not just…you know…?" He muttered quietly, not wanting to say _'sex'_ and still in shock over the confession. He always knew they were close, but he didn't think either of them would make this kind of mistake.

"...No...it's...it's not that simple..."

"Who else knows?"

"Nobody..." Kakashi rubbed a hand over his face and turned his head to stare at the shocked look on Gai's face. "Shikamaru knew...but..." He let the rest go unsaid. Obviously Shikamaru wasn't going to tell anyone now.

"You have to tell Tsunade. If someone else finds out about this...you need to tell her before that happens. She can help you two."

"I know...but...I just... With the attacks on Fire...and then Naruto, what will he do?...And there are some other things...it just doesn't seem like the right time." He wanted to tell Gai about the traitor, about the info they had gathered in Suna, but not yet. He needed to talk to Sakura first.

"There's never a right time for this kind of thing Kakashi, but you're breaking protocol. You know what people are going to say when they find out. Are you ready for that? Is it worth it?"

Was it worth it? He thought about the smile on her face, the way she laughed, the way she felt pressed against him, the way she smelled and how being near her put him at ease. She was his peace. She had become something she should have never been to him and it was tearing him apart. He swallowed, looked at the floor and shrugged as his chest constricted painfully. "...I wish I knew..."

"...Kakashi..." Gai exhaled in defeat as his friend was crushed under the weight of his various and warring emotions. He was the copy-ninja. He was supposed to have his head on all the time, be one of the smartest Shinobi in existence, and he had completely lost himself over his subordinate. It was painful to watch, and difficult to understand.

"Gai...I've fucked up so much..." He closed his eyes and leaned forward to put his face in his hands.

Guilt and sympathy flooded through his veins. They had been friends since they were in academy, and now Kakashi needed his help. He would never ask for help for a situation like this, but he needed it nonetheless. "...Tell me what happened...all of it. I'm your friend Kakashi, I'll figure out some way to help you both. I can't let my rival fall apart over something like this...How would that make me look? " He cracked a small; a very uncomfortable smile. How could he help them?

* * *

'_Red...Red...Red...' _Sakura's feet scuffed the dirt as she walked quietly on the edge of the street; small red leaflets of paper blew past her in the stiff wind. She had been at home all morning, but she couldn't stand it anymore. She needed to move, but didn't know where to move to. So she just walked out of the front door and down the street, alone with her thoughts, because she had no-one else.

Ino had screamed, cried and lashed out in pain when she and Choji had run to the hospital to check up on the team that had just returned. They had heard there had been a run in with the enemy and rushed to make certain everyone was ok.

They only rushed toward their own grief.

xxxxxx

_The blonde had burst into the room with her big shaggy haired teammate. "Sakura? Are you ok? Where's Kakashi and Shikamaru? They were with you right?!" She demanded, unsure if the info she had was actually the truth. Things were so confused these past few weeks in Konoha._

_She didn't have the strength to mouth the words she needed to say as she sat on the edge of the hospital bed, receiving her mandatory check up after her mission. Her eyes spoke for her instead and Ino latched on to it instantly; that's what happened when you were friends with someone for years. There came a point where words weren't needed._

"_What happened? Is Kakashi hurt again?" Ino stepped closer to her in honest concern. Kakashi Sensei was known for getting himself into dangerous situations and he was one of Sakura's closest friends._

_A small shake of the head, and her eyes dropped to the ground._

_No it wasn't Kakashi. Sakura would have started crying at the mention of his name. It was something else…someone else…_

_The medic team in the room held their breath and watched in silence. They all knew, but no-one wanted to do that to Ino or Choji. No one wanted to tell them what they would most certainly find out._

_Choji's voice, thick with fear as the tears already began to form in his eyes, worded what Ino was afraid to. "Where's Shikamaru...?"_

_Another small shake of her head. She couldn't meet their eyes. The same eyes that had watched the shadow-user's desperate last moments._

_The silence was so loud it hurt her ears. It was the calm before the storm._

_Ino had grabbed her roughly, pulled her to her feet and jerked her around to look at her face. "Where is Shikamaru?! Sakura! Tell me where he is right now!?" She was so scared._

_Sakura let herself get man handled by one of her closest friends and offered no resistance. She deserved worse. Her voice cracked and the tears she had been holding back spilled down her face. "Shika...I'm sorry Ino...I couldn't-"_

"_No! No he's not Sakura. Don't you tell me that...You're LYING! You're the Hokage's apprentice! You could save him! " Ino's face had turned red as loss, anger and denial swallowed her whole. "What happened!? Why didn't you save him!?"_

_Choji had slumped against the wall behind him and fallen to his knees sobbing. His best friend was gone. Shikamaru was dead. "He said I'll see you around…he didn't say bye…he didn't say bye…" Choji's voice cracked in misery. _

_The sound of her last surviving teammate crumbling to pieces pushed the Yamanaka over the edge. She grabbed a handful of Sakura's shirt and shook her roughly as she yelled. "I hate you! What good are you!? You're supposed to be a medic?! You're supposed to save people! And you LET HIM DIE!? He was my teammate! HE was my FRIEND! HE WAS __**YOUR**__ FRIEND! I hate you! Why Sakura!?"_

_Sakura only nodded pathetically and sobbed. The medics in the room had moved to separate the two women frantically, but it wasn't until Choji stood, wrapped his arms around Ino's shoulders and pulled her back that all the life went from her and she broke down as he led her away._

_They left the room and the hospital and Sakura hadn't heard from either of them since._

xxxxxxxx

She pulled her jacket around herself to ward off the cold, the black cloth tied around her arm making the sleeve on one side slightly tighter._ 'Kakashi...'_ She missed him and needed to talk to him desperately. They had been separated immediately when they arrived back in the village. She had been taken to the hospital and Kakashi had been directed elsewhere. It had been two days since then. She had only seen him once, when they were both called to help talk sense into a frantic Naruto in Suna, who wanted to come home immediately after hearing the news. He was ordered by the council and Tsunade (who was on the other end of the three-way communications) to wait for a team to help cross back into fire. He had written down on the scroll, eventually, that he would wait. No one was sure if he was actually going to obey. Who could really stop Naruto when he set his mind to doing something?

She hesitated at an intersection in the street, not sure which way to go. The decision seemed pointless. It didn't matter which direction she went. The problems would persist and follow her, so she sighed and sat down on the steps of a small shop and watched the few people out in the biting weather pass by. Most of them were shinobi rushing to fulfill orders or assignments given to them to assist and prepare in some way for the attacks on Fire. She had nothing to do, no orders had been given, and she was told to rest only.

It was a difficult task when she had so much on her mind. They needed to find the traitor in their village, but where to start? They needed to talk to Tsunade, but how?

Another red square blew up along her leg and stuck there, supported by the wind. She reached down to pluck it off and turned it over to examine it. Her head pulled back slightly at the small ink printing. "What is this?" she muttered in disbelief to herself.

The picture was a clear depiction of their Hokage, her Shishou, a bag over her shoulder as she waved goodbye to a group of people labeled 'Leaf' who had all been tied up, expressions of incredulity on their faces as they watched her leave. The words "It just looks like I'm running away...but I'm not" written in bold defiance on the bottom. The image was potent and the words unmistakably sarcastic. She couldn't believe someone would draw up something so blatantly insurgent about the woman who had been their Hokage for so long.

A set of feet interrupted her thoughts and she glanced up to attach the feet to a face she would recognize.

"Haruno Sakura? There are a few questions that the elders would like to ask you."

She nodded at the slightly familiar face. She was a Jounin a few years older than herself. _'What's her name...?'_ She couldn't remember. It didn't matter anyways. She held out the red paper for the other woman to see. "What are these doing everywhere?"

The woman shrugged as if it didn't matter that her Hokage was being insulted on paper. "They're everywhere, different ones..."

"No one is doing anything about it?"

"We're busy Haruno-san; someone is attacking the country and killing its people..." She motioned toward a man hurrying down the street with an armful of scrolls before adding with slight disdain. "...And anyways its' not like they aren't true..."

"What?" Sakura asked. She must have misunderstood.

The woman shook her head and scoffed. "It doesn't matter. They are waiting Haruno-san." She gestured toward the direction of Hokage tower and ignored Sakura's questioning gaze.

The medic frowned at the dismissal but let it go. She followed her escort in silence to where she was summoned.

The Hokage tower's large meeting room.

She entered the room with the uncertainty a mouse has in a room of cats. Any of these people could be the traitor, and she had no clue which one, if any at all.

"Please, please Haruno-San...come in." .

She bowed slightly and moved to the center of the sparsely populated room, only a few of the council and elders seemed to be here. "Otari-san, I was asked to come answer some questions?"

"Yes, thank you. Just a few follow ups to Hatake-san's report. We apologize for taking this long to hear you out Haruno-san, but several of our council members are out of the village on assignments to help Fire." Takeshi Otari, a pillar in Konoha's council, explained as he waved his hand over the empty chairs.

"When Tsunade returns and we are all better prepared... I'm sure we will have a large formal debrief of the situations that have occurred since you left Konoha on your mission, until your return..." Gogashi, an elder from the Hyuuga clan she had also seen on the council, spoke with a confident tone. It did nothing however for her own self-assurance, except maybe make it shrink just a bit more.

She nodded again, the nervousness creeping up her spine and wrapping around her stomach in a vise like maneuver. Her heart was beginning to pound dramatically against her chest as she tried to maintain her composure. Why was she so nervous?_ '...Because I failed and I know it...and so does everyone else.'_

Otari cleared his throat, glanced at the few other people in the room for the go ahead and then began his line of questions. "So Haruno-san, we understand that Hatake-san gave up these..." he glanced down at a set of notes in front of him. "...original and translated documents? That you believed held very important Intel?"

She shook her head. "No, he didn't give it up...they had Shikamaru and-"

"Please Haruno-san, just answer the question."

She bit her lip at having her explanation cut off. "Yes, in order to get our comrade."

"We'll get to that...Now is it true that you were all separated during the fight leaving Nara-san alone?"

Guilt mingled with her nervousness and intensified the feelings. "Yes."

"...But you went to aid Hatake-san?"

"Yes, I could see him fighting the Kekkei-genkai user and I made a decision to help him."

"Did he seem like he was being overwhelmed?"

She hesitated. No, he didn't. She had just panicked at the idea of losing him. Her silence did not go unmarked and after a few seconds she was prodded for an answer.

"Haruno-san? Did Hatake-san look like he was in any serious danger, any more so than yourself or Nara-san would have been in that situation?"

She shook her head and her eyes began to sting in the face of her mistakes. "No...he didn't"

"Ok, thank you." Otari nodded and wrote down a few lines, motioning toward the other council members to continue as he wrote.

Gogashi cleared his throat, got a nod of approval from an older woman at his right and took over the interrogation, for to Sakura that is what it felt like. "Haruno-san...when did you discover that Shikamaru was missing?"

"I didn't. Kaka- Hatake-san did after we were able to restrain the fire-user."

"And the man you knocked away ...the one that was fighting Hatake-san? He was the one that captured your teammate?"

The accusation fell like a ton of bricks on to her shoulders. It burned deeply and painfully. "Yes."

"Tell us how that happened."

"I went to aid Hatake-san across the creek. I thought I could help him subdue his enemy, and then we could take down the fire-user-"

"...and when did you think you would aid Nara Shikamaru?" Otari asked in an earnest whisper.

"I- I-Did-I-" Sakura stumbled over her words.

Gogashi waved away her flustered attempts to explain herself easily. "It's ok Haruno-san; no one is accusing you of anything. Please continue. You were going to help him, and then both take out the fire-user...that was your idea. What happened after that?"

Accused is exactly what she felt like. "I hit the blond enemy shinobi and he got knocked several feet away into the trees. I asked Hatake-san if he was ok...tried to see if he had any serious injuries. He did the same to me. _'And I never once thought of Shikamaru...' _before we could reorganize, the fire-user attacked us. We engaged and defeated him."

"And it was at this point that you lost track of this man, Yori?"

"That's what the woman called him, and yes."

"So now you have the fire-user, and Hatake-san bargained with the other enemy, Yori, to get back Shikamaru...giving up both the Intel and the renegade shinobi you had both just overcome?"

"To save Shikamaru's life..." She pleaded for understanding.

"Apparently not…" Gogashi frowned in disapproval at her from across the room.

Otari sighed, set his pen down and crossed his arms. "You made a deal with an enemy, and they lied. This turn of events is very unfortunate Haruno-san. Can you explain how you were unable to save Nara-san's life?"

_There it was. Why couldn't she save him? She is the Hokage's own apprentice, one of the best medic in Fire. And for some reason… her teammates kept dying._

She brushed away a stray tear from her eye and exhaled deeply before she began what she had gone over in her head time and time again. "I responded as soon as I saw that Shikamaru had been injured. His carotid artery along with his jugular vein and part of his windpipe had been damaged. When an injury of that nature is sustained there is only about two-minute window of time before it causes death. I tried to repair the walls of the artery and throat to stop the blood loss. He was Hypervolemic, had marked tachycardia and it was getting worse despite what I had done. There was already a very notable absence of perfusion in the skin. That was when Hatake-san noticed the blood...He had…Shikamaru had already sustained a stab wound; his renal artery in his kidney had been damaged. The internal bleeding from his kidney had begun filling up his abdominal and chest cavities and started collapsing his lungs before I had even gotten to him. I'd say by the time we discovered this… he had lost at least fifty percent of his blood volume in his body. That, along with the damage to his windpipe, meant that the efficiency of the remaining blood in his body was negligible. The situation was irreversible... and he…he died of exsanguination."

The room was silent for a beat as they all processed what she had said, or at least tried to.

It was Otari who spoke up first with pursed lips. "Haruno-san, thank you. We appreciate your professionalism and...specificity... Just to make sure that we all understand: You are saying he had already been dealt a serious injury before his throat was cut? He was already bleeding to death when you were making the deals with the enemies? "

She only nodded in agreement to his layman terms. Her throat was too tight and her tongue too heavy after her detailed and detached explanation of her friends horrendous death. She had no more words to give them.

"I think that is all for now Haruno-san if we have any other questions we will call on you."

"Thank you." She croaked out breathlessly before she turned to leave the room.

Out once again in the streets of Konoha the temperature was falling rapidly as the sun began to drop, but her skin felt hot, clammy and tingly as she went over what had just played out in the Hokage tower. The accusations were subtle and veiled behind the polite routine inquiries, but they were there nonetheless. _'...They want someone to blame…' _

She couldn't catch her breath; her lungs burned and refused to grab enough air. Her chest clenched tightly and her heart began to race the more she thought over all that had befallen herself and Kakashi since they left Konoha. _'...Its falling apart...we can't do anything about it...I can't figure it out...I don't know what to do...' _She could hear and feel the blood pounding in her head as she tried to breath in slowly again to regain her senses.

She needed to talk to Kakashi. She needed to see him.

First she needed to get control over herself.

* * *

A headache. _No_. **The** headache. It was back. _No_. It had never gone away. It never went away, just like the questions never stopped coming and the people never stopped needing. Gods she felt old. _Actually _old. Older than she even really was. With her fingers pinched at the bridge of her nose and her eyes squeezed shut, she turned around to face the questioners. She didn't need to look at them, or look at the small room in the abandoned farm they had set up in while she waited for the Daimyo, who, by an act of the Gods, had agreed to leave his compound and meet her in the decimated farmland.

"Ok. Shizune...what has your team found out today?"

She only heard that weird, small and awkward throat clear that Shizune did when she was uncomfortable. "So nothing then...you've found nothing...Shino...what has your team found out?"

She had to pry her eyes open this time. Shino was always quiet. She didn't know if this was his foreboding-bad-news-quiet, or his I'm-so-happy-I-can't-form-words-quiet. Turned out it was the former. Go figure.

"My insects have found no residual tracers on the poisons and we have lost several hundreds of them trying to develop bugs that are resistant. We've made no headway. Also our reconnaissance has picked up nothing on any of the leads you have given us to check out."

She couldn't sigh deep enough, but she gave it her fucking best. "The Daimyo will be here _**tomorrow night.**_..I need **something**. Somebody...find me **something**. **Something **that shows the shinobi of the** village HIDDEN in the Leaves** are not sitting around with their fingers up their asses doing nothing for the country!"

"Yes Hokage-sama. Of course Hokage-sama..." was the simultaneous reply she received from all the various members of the group that surrounded her before they made their way out of the small room; tails firmly tucked between their legs along with their pride.

She closed her eyes again, cursed her headache, blew out a deep breath and turned back to the table that she had claimed as her own desk. She snatched a dingy glass from the table top and poured herself a tall drink.

"Tsunade-sama...?"

One little lost puppy hadn't gotten the hint, obviously.

"Shizune..?" She asked tersely, her patience thin and her drink inches from her lips.

"We are trying our hardest, and -"

"-And it's not good enough Shizune." She sipped the drink and set it down as the weariness ate through her and settled deep into her bones. "..and...I'm not doing good enough...I shouldn't have spoken like that..."

"You're under stress, everyone knows, but..."

"But what?" she asked, well aware of the answer.

"You need to control your temper...and ...the drinking...people are talking..."

"They have always talked..." She smacked away the comment with a quick wave of her hand through the air. She was done discussing that matter.

"Have you had any news on Sakura and Kakashi...after...after what happened?" Shizune asked hesitantly.

"They both cleared the medical checkup and...Shikamaru will be buried in the morning." The words sounded so foreign on her tongue. It didn't seem real. It never did, not at first anyways. How had this happened? Shikamaru had been killed. Sakura had failed to save him. And Kakashi had another disaster as a team leader.

She couldn't think about it right now. It would be the drop that overflowed the bucket if she did. "But...not now Shizune...I can't think about it...we need to talk to the Daimyo first and see what ideas, leads or help he needs and then get back to Konoha. If we can't discover a way to rid the land of the poison by then, I'm leaving you in charge of putting together a team to do it. I swear Shizune... I'm beginning to regret the decision to come here...and it's only been a few days. No matter where I'm at things are falling apart...all around me..."

Shizune only watched quietly as the Sannin self medicated her sadness, regrets and guilt with the glass of Sake. She looked frayed and about to come apart at the seams. She looked just the way she shouldn't, and everyone was beginning to take notice.

* * *

"Mizuki-san. The target has been located..."

The Anbu senior captain turned to the masked face of his subordinate, his own familiar mask in place. "Thank you Hyato. You've proven invaluable. I'll be sure to offer my support for your promotion to captain when the time comes."

"Thank you Mizuki-san. But I just happen to be in the right place at the right time..."

"Modesty doesn't suit you. You are opportunistic and ambitious. Those are good things, you should embrace them. Now, tell the others. We'll move in before dawn and set up…" He motioned through the darkness toward the six other Shinobi in various stages of preparedness a few feet away.

With a small nod the young Anbu slid toward his comrades. He was tired and cold, but it did little to affect the warmth in his chest that blossomed from the praise he had received from his superior.

* * *

Kakashi sucked in a gasping breath as he jumped awake. He reached for his Kunai as he sat up abruptly, it was second nature. He didn't remember falling asleep. He did remembered sitting on the couch in silence long after Gai had left, wondering if he had just made a huge mistake by telling the man he called his best friend about what had been going on between himself and Sakura.

His eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness and he could still make out both of the mugs of tea on his table, long since gone cold. He listened for what had jerked him from his tumultuous sleep. The only noise he could hear was the faint humming of his pitifully stocked refrigerator.

He blew out a breath he hadn't known he was holding and stood up as he ran his hand through his hair.

"_Kakashi."_

He froze, his eyes darted around the room to locate the source of the eerie whispered voice. Gods he hoped he wasn't losing it.

There was no-one in his apartment. He turned a circle, just to make extra sure. Now he was extra sure there was no-one in his apartment and that only made him narrow his eyes in suspicion over his seemingly fragile grip on sanity.

"Kakashi...the door…" The small whispered and oh so familiar voice called again desperately.

_Shit._ He stalked across the room to his broken door. Of course. "Sakura...hold on it's broken." He rolled his eyes at himself. First for not realizing it was Sakura whispering behind his door. Second for not fixing the door months ago when Naruto had slammed through it and broke the hinges, all just to drag him to the training grounds.

He winced as he leaned heavily on the door to push it back in place and yanked it open. The noise it emitted was a screeching wail loud enough to wake the dead and sent chills up his spine. Closing it behind her was even worse. His neighbors hated him right now.

"I'm sorry; I should have used the window." Sakura muttered

"No it's ok; I should have fixed the door. It's-" He glared and gestured in irritation to the door in question. "It's a door...it should open…It's all it's there for…" He felt sure that the door glared back and he had the irrational urge to tell it to shut up.

"I'm a medic...I'm supposed to save people...but I can't seem to do it..." She said weakly.

He turned around quickly, took in her tear stained face and pulled her into his arms, right where she fit. "Sakura, don't do that..."

"I got called in for an informal debrief this afternoon..." her words were muffled by the fabric of his shirt as she pressed her face to his chest.

He pressed his lips to the top of her head as she spoke. "What happened...?"

"I don't know. I felt like they were trying to find someone to blame it on. I've just been walking around Konoha...I didn't know if I should come here...I haven't seen you...I didn't know...what to do..." She shook her head and let herself be guided over to his old couch.

"You can come here Sakura, wherever you want...I've missed you...I'm sorry I didn't go see you. I shouldn't have left you alone..." He reached over and brushed her hair behind her ear gently. As always his world shrunk slightly when she was around and he reveled in it.

"I missed you too. I don't think I can do this...I was so scared when I was in that room. Any of them could be the traitor. Everyone I walk past...And have you seen this?" She jerked a small red piece of paper from her pocket and held it out to him. "What's happening?"

The copy-ninja looked over the paper and frowned. He didn't know what to make of it. "We can do it Sakura. We'll talk to Tsunade when she gets back. We'll start looking into people that are the closest to her and work our way down the list."

"But the country Kakashi...it's-"

"One day at a time Sakura. They don't know we've figure out the code. And we won't get put back out for mission detail for a while. Tsunade should be back by then...and she can keep us at home to help figure this out."

The medic nodded to his logic and turned to stare out his window with a sigh as she lost herself to her thoughts. "Kakashi...We killed Shikamaru didn't we?"

He paused slightly before he told her the lie he wanted to believe, and it hurt. "No…the enemy did."

"Did they though?"

"You know they did Sakura and you did everything you could to save him."

"I completely forgot about him because I was so scared something was going to happen to you. I was blinded..."

He knew it was true because he had done the same thing. Their hands were as red with Shikamaru's blood as those three rogue-nins'. He pulled her into his lap and held her tightly against him. It was the best he could do, and he knew it wasn't good enough. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you..."

She sighed, laid her head against his chest and reached her hand up to run her fingers along the scar that ran through his eye. He was trying to comfort her and himself, but they both felt the guilt of losing Shikamaru, and the responsibility of his death. In their hearts they both felt like traitors to Konoha now, but neither would say it.

"Can't you see what we've done Kakashi?"

"I can only see you Sakura." He whispered painfully. It was the cold hard truth for whenever she was around him. He lifted her chin with his hand as he leaned down to press his lips to hers.

The grief and emptiness battled with the warmth and pleasure in her heart as he held her and kissed her gently. She pulled away slightly and laid her forehead against his. "I'm scared."

The small way she spoke of her fears tore at him. He closed his eyes as he ran his fingers along her arm until it reached the knot of his hitai-ate she had tied around it. "I'll take care of you Sakura...It'll be ok."

"I know you'll try Kakashi..." She smiled sorrowfully. He would try, even if it killed him and ruined them both. She knew, because she would do the same in the blink of an eye and only think about the consequences later. She had proven this to herself and him less than a week ago at the creek.

"Sakura..." He slipped his hand from the cloth on her arm and down to her hand, entwining his fingers with hers. His stomach pulled sharply as she gripped his hand tightly. The memory of the way Shikamaru clung desperately to it flashed through his mind and he opened his eyes to assure himself that it was the small pale hand of his medic, and not his dead friend's. He inhaled deeply to compose himself before he could speak. "Stay with me tonight...please." He didn't want to be alone with only his thoughts for company...

She shouldn't stay. Someone might find out, but she couldn't leave. She didn't want to be alone either and she wasn't strong enough to tell him no. "...I'll stay." She nodded as she spoke and lifted her mouth to his, pressing her lips against his softly as his hand squeezed her own. She needed to feel him, to make sure he was real and he was here. She couldn't leave him no matter how much she knew it would be better for them both. He gave her the hope she was desperate for and her heart wouldn't let him go, even when her mind told her to.

His reaction was slow and hesitant as he kissed her back, almost fearful. His tongue slipped into her mouth to lightly touch her own while his unoccupied hand cupped her cheek softly. When she slid her hand behind his neck and pulled him down on top of her he gave in completely to what he was afraid of. Sakura and what she meant to him. He couldn't stop what he felt for her. He couldn't control it at all. And it was killing him.

They moved slowly, reassuring themselves and each other with soft words and gentle touches. Their clothes fell quietly to the floor and still their fingers were ravenous for each other. Needing the other closer. Wanting to help each other forget their shared pains. Sakura didn't know when she started crying, but when she did he murmured her name softly, kissed the tears away and took her somewhere else altogether. To a place where only they existed and the problems they faced could wait. They both wanted to stay there forever and they tried their hardest to linger for as long as possible in their own world.

But reality was always waiting. And it waited patiently for the two interlopers to come back to where they belonged.

* * *

Norio waved to Jun and Ryota, who stood behind him, forward. "That must be them..." He whispered, even though the two shinobi wearing leaf insignias were well over fifty yards away approaching the grain mill. A few workers were outside doing, whatever it was that the mill workers had been doing for the last hour. Norio and his team had been watching the workers while they waited for their target Shinobi to show up. Being a mill worker seemed very boring.

"They don't look like too much." Ryota offered with a shrug as he scratched at his not-bearded face.

"Neither did that pink haired girl." Jun scoffed.

"Yeah, well we were warned but still grossly underestimated them both. These guys are just...collateral damage...No real danger. Once they are inside… Kanta, you go in the back. Jun, take that window on the western side. I'll take the front door." Norio grinned.

Jun rolled her eyes. Of course he would take the front door. He liked to make an appearance. The big show-off. "Ok..."

They all watched as the two men waved a little 'hello' to the workers outside and beckoned the group to follow them into the mill.

Norio frowned. "What about the workers? You think we kill them too?"

"hmmmm...No...they said leave the mill standing. I bet that counts the workers too." Jun pursed her lips.

Ryota nodded. "Yeah they probably would have told us to kill everyone like they did with the towns..."

Norio clicked his tongue against his cheek as he thought it over. "True they did just say the two shinobi...Ok then. Let's go. You have ten minutes to get into position, and then go in. Leave the workers and the Mill standing. That means no earth jutsu Ryota..." He slid his eyes to the lumbering oxen beside him. "...I mean it."

"I know I know..." Ryota complained and snuck back through the bushes along with Jun.

Norio waited five minutes before he made his way through the trees toward the mill. He spotted Jun slinking across the roof in broad daylight; her red hair caught the sun and was set ablaze in a very dramatic way he approved of.

The minutes came slower and slower. He didn't want to fuck this one up. He didn't want to lose face again. He and his team were, in general, good people. They had just made a few mistakes. He could feel it in his blood, these two shinobi were going to put them back in the game. He wondered briefly who they were. Some high level clans up-jumped off-spring no doubt. Killing them would turn the right heads and piss off the right people. This was a good mission.

_The ten minutes were up._

He waited another twenty seconds, just to make sure and let himself in and prepared to locate their targets amid the workers.

A sharp crack across the side of his face and a searing pain in his right eye made him stagger slightly. He felt the heat of blood drip down his cheek from his eye as he tried to judge his surroundings.

Masks filled the area. The workers were nowhere to be seen.

Ryota was being forced to his knees by an unseen jutsu as another masked man stood above him, sword in hand.

Norio warded off another incoming blow with his forearm, inhaled deeply and sent his detonating kekkei-genkai through the mill. The crackling explosions grazed one of the masked men as it whizzed by, but his sight was impaired and it veered right of his goal and hit the wall.

He didn't have time for a second one. The masked shinobi were a cohesive unit and three of them attacked him at once. He blocked, stepped back, tried to launch a counter offensive, but was thwarted every time. He tried to call out to Ryota as he looked in his giant friend's direction.

Ryota's body hit the ground and his head rolled away in a spray of blood. He was no more.

Panic gripped Norio's gut and he tried to leap up toward the rafters where Jun should be. Pain screamed through his back and he fell back to the dirt floor with a grunt. This wasn't how this was supposed to go. There were only supposed to be two low level shinobi. What had happened?

He pushed himself up onto his hands as a tight black shadow wrapped itself around his body and throat to hold him hostage. Another masked enemy held his sword pointed against his vulnerable back.

"That explosion technique...you're the ones who've been attacking the villages in Fire aren't you?"

Norio chanced to turn his head to look at the man with the sword but refused to answer.

"You don't have to answer...you have the same chakra trace that we found in the villages you destroyed." Another mask with a burly looking dog at his side spoke his answer confidently.

"Where's Jun?" Norio rasped. The pain in his back forced him to bow his head as he tried to catch his breath.

"The woman?... Dead..." Another voice answered and caused Norio to glance up as a cold rock of destiny hit his stomach and he realized how everything had gone so wrong.

"You fucking asshole..."Norio ground out as his wounded eye wept tears of blood. He pushed himself up, straining against the shadows that bound him.

The sharp steel of the sword punched through his back and his gut before it was ripped out quickly.

The shadow user that held the dark-skinned rogue scoffed at the sword wielder. "Hey man, we needed someone alive to question right?"

"He was attacking and you looked like you were losing control!" The sword wielder complained.

"I was fine!"

"My mistake...you seemed…strained."

"I did not-"

"Hey stop arguing." Another mask called out as it dug around in Ryota's pockets.

"Mind your own business." The sword wielder commanded loudly.

Norio panted as the blood fell in thick streams from his body. He knew that face, knew that voice. He'd only seen it twice, and months apart. But he knew that face. The men around him argued between each other over the trivial matter of his death and their pride, but he only heard one thing.

Approaching footsteps.

"Mission accomplished Norio. Thank you for all your hard work." A barely audible whisper fanned against his ear, covered by the raised voices echoing through the mill.

"You lied..." The dark skinned man choked.

"...And you believed me."

Akihisa Mizuki stood back up, stepped away from the dying man and rubbed a hand over his face before pulling his mask back on. "**ENOUGH**" he commanded forcefully and the heated words from his subordinates died out on their ready lips. "It's fine...Hyato...finish him...we have all we need."

The sword-wielder frowned beneath his mask but came to heel at his master's command. Norio's head was absent from his body a few seconds later.

"Check their bodies, find their campsite and tell the mill workers they can come out of the basement now...and move! We have just succeeded in destroying one of the enemy teams of Fire country. Let's go home and tell them!"

A proud eruption of noise followed the statement before the Anbu team set to complete their assignments.

* * *

**A/N**

_Thanks for reading. Honestly I will try to update sooner but RL has me going a little asodg0q8irqgjwuf4nefasl;dfkj0swdvjwdfgrg0wf=gvui[PDEJR7857dfaIK right now..._

_sooo I will try. Hopefully things settle down in a week or so.. :\ but probably not. Class is getting a lot more difficult... oh well...atleast im on spring break as we speak (type?..read?) _

_Ninken ears out and saying "haha :p i killed 3 more people...at least this time they were bad guys...or...were they?" _

_0_o Bad is just a point of view depending on which side of the river you stand on..._


	25. Intuition

_Yep. That was a long time right? Sorry guys RL is being distracting. I want to promise you that the next update will not be as long._

_That's what I want to do._

_We have like 10ish-12ish chaps left. The next one is probably going to be in 2 parts...we'll see. I'm not quitting I promise I just have a lot of stuff on my plate right now. Polar-Bears, Mini-me's, Meat-wagons and Koreas._

_They say time waits for no man...Well, it apparently also waits for no woman...and here I thought my feminine charm could work it's magic on Time. Nope. I could not seduce time in to waiting for me. Turns out time is a** huge** dick hole. Pfftt it didn't even wave goodbye as it zipped right passed me. The jackass._

_I'm sorry that this chap isn't more exciting...think of it as a steppingstone..._

_The next chap is not a stepping stone. You're just going to fall in the river._

* * *

**_Intuition_**

* * *

"Tsunade-sama, what are we going to do?" Shizune whispered hesitantly toward the silhouette of her long time friend and was met with nothing but silence. Just like the last three times she asked the same question, or any question for that matter. Tsunade sat quietly in the dimly lit room of the farm house and stared at the table. Her fingers tapped out a slow steady beat as she lost herself in her own thoughts and blatantly ignored the questions that Shizune directed toward her.

The daimyo had come and gone. He had come, ripped Tsunade apart and then gone. They had no viable leads. They had made no progress. Every time they thought they had something worth tracking down, it turned out to be a dead end. The land was still disseminated. The country was still in ruins. Fire country's shinobi, that operated directly under the Sannin, had not made the tiniest step in the right direction. The Hokage was failing them all.

While Tsunade puttered around in the countryside and wasted valuable resources, the civilians were terrified for their lives and livelihoods. The prices at the markets were soaring due to threats of limited harvests from the now ravaged farmlands. The trade, at what was once their busiest shipping yard, had been force to reroute to the south to a port that was not only much farther away but also much smaller. The subsequent effects were the price increases, job loss and civil hostilities that were spreading through several areas of Fire. There was no one to blame. No one but the Hokage who had no answers for anyone and had no feasible direction to go in the pursuit of the enemies that were wreaking havoc on the country.

They had been gone for just under two weeks, chasing their tails in the farmland. The council had been in charge of Konoha for just as long, and word had reached them that Mizuki's team, after tracking down the leads he had discovered, had caught a small group of the enemies that were believed to have attacked the countryside and destroyed the docks. In just a few days, without her there to look over matters, organize the team, or approve the mission strategy, they had taken down a group of people that had been terrorizing the country. The people that she had been doggedly hunting for weeks.

It was a tough pill of failure to swallow and she needed a large glass of sake to wash it down. The sake had taken the edge off then, it took the rest off now. Yes, she was happy that her village had done something, but she was worried that she played no part in it. She was the Hokage, she should have been there. She should have been brought the lead, she should have seen past the shadow of uncertainty to the truth of the matter. She should have known. She did none of those things. She sat in the country, she drank and she let everyone down that had stood behind her and look to her for help.

And she was still doing it.

The meeting with the Daimyo had been a slap in the face. He had questions she couldn't answer. Accusations she couldn't deny and demands she couldn't meet. He wanted help, his cities and villages cried for the things he was asking her. She had nothing to give she had not already given. She was the hokage of Konoha, she was a Sannin level shinobi and she had not felt so helpless in all her life but for when she was faced with the pudgy, wrinkled image of the Daimyo. In her attempts at defending herself, she lost her temper and she lost the daimyo's ear seconds later. He left a few short hours later after he had suggested that perhaps, for their future interactions, Shizune or one of the council members should act as her go between, once Tsunade decided to get her shit together and actually help the country she was sworn to.

"Tsunade, are we leaving? Am I staying behind to continue work here?" Shizune stepped forward and touched the arm of the somber looking hokage. "What are we going to do?"

Tsunade frowned and looked at her drink for answers and it frowned back at her, ridiculously half empty and full of pessimism. "What do you think we should do?"

Shizune assumed she was being questioned and not the glass of sake, even though as of late Tsunade seemed to lean more heavily on the drink then she did anyone else. "I thought you said if we didn't find anything, you would leave me here with a team and head back to the village?" she asked the question in a unsure tone. She did not want to fray Tsunades temper, which was very thin the past weeks and growing ever thinner.

The Sannin nodded slowly, the weight of her decisions pressing down on her from all sides. "That is what I said. Was it right? Every time I decide something lately...it's wrong."

The dark haired woman sighed. "It's not wrong, it's just...everyone needs someone to blame. You're the Hokage, they are looking to you for answers-"

_Answers._ There it was again. She was done. She didn't want to hear anymore. She waved away Shizune's words impatiently. This conversation was over. "What is the report for today? Same as yesterday?"

With her practiced speech cut short, Shizune faltered slightly. She had been waiting to talk to Tsunade, wanting to address the issues she was facing. And she just got shut down. Again. With a defeated tone she answered. "Yes, Tsunade-sama...we have nothing to report for today."

"Gather a team for yourself. You are staying here to figure this out. Tell Everyone else we are going back to Konoha."

"Yes Tsunade-sama." Shizune bowed slightly and moved to leave the room. She was worried about Tsunade and her going back to Konoha in her current state; sullen, depressed and angry. But Sakura was at home now, and if anyone could talk sense into the Sannin. It was the equally stubborn medic. Sakura was always dependable in a tough situation. She would help Tsunade find her way through this.

* * *

Dai handed the scroll over to Nobu without ceremony. The pale skin of her tattooless hand dropped the scroll into his lap before she walked to peek out into the morning light. Was there nothing more beautiful than a new day?

Nobu read the communications from top to bottom. They had not received any mission since they had gotten word that Norio's team had been killed. It came as a surprise, granted, not a huge surprise. Norio, Jun and Ryota were careless and prone to mistakes. The screw up in Tani was proof enough of that fact. They had been informed that Norio's team had not taken heed of the warnings and underestimated the enemy once again.

Norio was always one to show off. He probably tried to make a grand entrance, as per usual. They were consoled by the fact that Norio and his team had been killed before they could be questioned, so the leaf nin still had no real clues on who they were or what they were doing. Silver linings and all he supposed. "Asuka, here..." The young genjutsu expert held the scroll out for his other teammate to look over. The sound of his voice startled her from her state of half sleep on the worn chair in the run down inn they had come to two days ago.

The wind-user grasped at the scroll and she too read it. A small ribbon of purpose curled up in her stomach. They had a mission. "When do we leave?". She glanced up to their team leader who was staring out of the dingy window and Dai only nodded her head slightly, gave a brief glance to the door and then turned back to the window, all with a tiny smile.

_Now_

* * *

Awkward. That's what this was.

The copy ninja swallowed deeply, and yet the awkwardness persisted. That was the only tactic he had as of now to rid himself of the feeling, so he gave up and accepted it. His lone eye shifted from Gai that sat across from him, to Sakura who sat on the farthest possible spot from him on his couch. If she could have, she would have been standing with her face shoved into the corner of the room, but that would have made this situation even more uncomfortable. A commendable feat, but not anyone's end goal for this little meeting of the rule breakers.

She was mad, or...something. Probably mad. He hadn't gotten around to telling her that he had informed Gai of their relationship. Yes, it had been a week, and he had seen her almost everyday since then, but they had been discussing the traitor, been in social situations or non-social, intimate situations. Either way he couldn't seem to find the right time to bring up the fact that he had dumped his purse out to the man she had known as Gai sensei her whole life and told him about their inappropriate relationship.

When she showed up at his apartment this morning like he had asked her to. She had no idea Gai was going to be there. _Surprise number one._ She took the extra guest in stride as she moved in the room and closed the door. But it came as a bit of a shock to her when Gai's first sentence had been. "Tsunade is on her way back. When she gets settled in, I'll go with you to tell her about what is going on between you both...it's the only way." _Surprise number two._ Her stride broke. Sakura had whipped around, stared at him in confusion and sat down on the couch because she couldn't think of anything else to say or do.

And that's how they ended up here. Three sannin level shinobi hailing from the village hidden in Awkward. Sakura's eyes were glued to the floor, the floor was looking at her like she was a whore. Gai was shifting uncomfortably. He felt positive that this feeling of discomfort was directly related to his sitting position, and not the tension in the room; he was determined to figure it out. Kakashi himself had stopped moving completely, hoping that maybe extreme immobility would, in fact, lead to invisibility.

He remained, unfortunately, very visible.

The medic cleared her throat. Her emotions swayed for a moment between shame, irritation and disbelief. It appeared the copy-ninja had informed Gai of their...indiscretions and had not told her. Shame, irritation and disbelief were smashed under the weight of resolution and duty. They could come back and bother her later. Right now there was something else to attend to.

"When did you find out about Tsunade? Nobody told me anything." Really no one was talking to her at all, so it wasn't that big of a surprise. Everyone was waiting for Tsunade to come back before they would start addressing what had happened at the creek and allow them to move past the incident. Neither herself nor kakashi had been given any sort of assignment at all since they returned. They had only both been called in separately one other time to ask a few more questions and that was it. The second round of questions did not go any smoother than the first round. She was on edge and not without good reason. She knew the mistakes they had made and what they had cost. So did everyone else.

"Just now. She met with the daimyo a few days ago and is already on her way back. Shizune is staying behind in the farmland to try to figure out how to remove the toxins from the soil."

"When will she be back?" The masked man had found his voice now that there was something to think about besides his friend staring at his pink-haired subordinate, who was also one of the most profound derelictions of duty he had ever participated in.

"She is already on her way, so three days at the _most _is what I understood."

The sudden hush in the room was beginning to grow uncomfortable again.

_Three days at the __**most**__._

The hushed tones of Sakura and Kakashi thinking was upsetting. Gai decided to change the subject. "The Rogue nin Mizuki's anbu tracked down and ambushed, did you hear they were some of the ones who attacked the docks and two of the villages? That the chakra traces matched."

The hush was deafening now, because yes, everyone knew that. The council was calling Mizuki a hero and clinging to his coattails in the wake of his and his team's success. He was, so far, the only positive accomplishment Konoha had right now. And everyone, it seemed, had found a new God in this foxhole of war, and his name was Mizuki. At least the morale in the village had jumped up a few notches.

Gai continued, his voice dropping a few octaves, from light hearted chatter between shinobi, to something more akin to a whisper. "Their chakra...and the jutsus they used on the docks and villages. It seems like some of the stuff you both described from the campsite with Sai...and from what I was able to hear about from your reports in Tani.

"What?" Sakura voiced Kakashi's only rational thought at the moment.

Gai frowned. "No one told you that either? I can't be sure...but just from what I have heard...I thought maybe you would have been told or asked more questions about it. Maybe I was wrong.." He suddenly doubted himself and his train of thought.

Kakashi sat forward; elbows on knees, chin on fists. His voice spoke heavily the volumes of his frustration in their current position. "Gai, no one has told us anything for the past week besides to rest and wait for Tsunade. They just ask us questions and dismiss us. They don't want to clear us for duty until Tsunade gets back. Everyone is busy, except me and Sakura. You were the last person I had a real conversation with, and that was a week ago."

He didn't say what he and Sakura had discussed just the day before. That it seemed like the whole of Konoha was avoiding them like a pair of pariah's, afraid that the failures and death that stuck to them both might be contagious. That might be taking it a step too far with Gai.

Gai shifted again remembering_ that_ conversation he had had with Kakashi the week before. The one where he found out about the couple on the couch. _Couple._ The idea was still disturbing. It was like him having an affair with Tenten. Not something that had ever even crossed his mind. "Okay..." Gai took a deep breath and prepared to fill Kakashi and Sakura in on the holes in their information which, for the time being, seemed to be a gaping cavern instead of a few tiny cracks.

"The chakra traces of the three enemies that were killed in Iwaki have been confirmed for the most part as matching what was found at the villages and the docks. Also there were reports that one of them gave off no sense of chakra when he was in the area. Another had an exploding type jutsu he tried to use on the Anbu team that ambushed him-"

"That's them. That's the nin from the campsite and Tani. It has to be." Sakura exclaimed, her discomfort with their current situation left behind in lieu of the knowledge that Norio's team, her and Kakashi's torturers and Karu and Akino's killers, had been the ones that were discovered in Iwaki.

Kakashi's brows pulled together sharply and he tossed a sidelong glance to the pink haired woman on the couch beside him. "They attacked the villages, the docks, and the campsite at the border of river and in Tani."

Sakura frowned as she too began putting the facts together and her eyes narrowed slightly as their suspicions were confirmed. "Kakashi..." her eyes jumped back to Gai sitting across from them, his face screwed up in an attempt to keep up with the silent conversation that was happening between the two on the couch without his knowledge.

A lone eye slid back to his longtime friend seated in front of him and a pregnant silence invaded the small living space.

"Kakashi, what's going on?" Gai remarked uncertainly

He trusted Gai, he did, but this knowledge was not something to be handed out idly to every passer-by. With it came paranoia and the burden of duty. But Gai was here and he had information they themselves couldn't seem to get at. He also already had incriminating evidence on them. So what difference did a little conspiratorial chat matter in the end? He gave his medic one more quick glance and the slightest nod of her head told him that she was on the same page as him. That page was in the book 'we need help now.'

Kakashi's voice was only slightly above a whisper when he spoke, his dark eye belaboring the extreme seriousness of the topic that was about to be broached. "Gai, we think that there is a traitor in Konoha. We found the proof in the notebook we recovered in Tani. We deciphered the code in Suna. Someone in Konoha has been laundering money, and you just confirmed why. They are-" He paused trying to organize his thoughts. It was like trying to put a puzzle together in the dark. He knew all the pieces were there, but where did they fit and what was the picture going to be?

Sakura picked up where her silver-haired jounin left off, trying to fill in the gaps as best she could. "We didn't know what reason they had or what they were doing but, that team...the people that attacked us in Tani and at the campsite. We thought maybe it was just team seven they were after, we just didn't know, we didn't have all the information... Then the attacks on Konoha started and we thought maybe-" Her tongue fell silent as her brain steamed ahead. _Was what she was about to say the truth? Is that what she thought? Could it be the truth? It was a huge and ugly truth to face if that was the case._

Gai's eyes gave a long blink as he tried to process what he was being told. What _was _he being told? It wasn't making any sense. "What...A traitor? It's just...I don't understand what you are saying. The people that attacked you at the campsite and in Tani are the same people that have attacked Fire...but they aren't from Konoha. We don't know them or their kekkei-genkais."

Kakashi stood up swiftly. His mind was racing so he needed to move his body to keep up. He paced in front of the couch, his eyes focused inwardly as he tried to make their claims seem legitimate. _'..Think Hatake...slow down and think...'_

Sakura tried to explain again. "No, I know. It's...the notebook. It's hard but if you could just see it all the way we did... Gai it's the only thing that makes sense..."

_Yes. The Notebook._ The masked-man paused in front of his friend and dropped to a crouch, meeting him eye level. "Gai, just listen..." He held his hand out palm up for display. "I had it right here. The notebook...I'm telling you. Only someone** inside **of Fire country.." His voice dropped to just the rumor of a whisper. "Gai, only someone _in _Konoha_, _could have done this. They found us in Tani...they knew things about us and our mission...said things...Things about Sai...things about our meeting with Tsunade. The notebook had numbers, it was keeping track of payments. Payments and records for... I think completed missions. Just like we have here..." He pointed to the floor as he spoke, solidifying that his _'here'_ meant Konoha.

Oh Ok, he understood now. Kakashi and Sakura were both experiencing occupationally induced psychotic breakdowns. Not uncommon in the Shinobi world and these two had been through alot the past few months. More than a lot actually. No wonder they were coming up with their best attempts at rationalizing their traumas. He laid a hand on his friend's shoulder. "What you're both saying...Kakashi...this can't be true. No-one would do that to you..."

"But they did and it's not just us..." Sakura voice cut in before Kakashi could say anything. "...Gai-sensei...we only just got in the way at the campsite. Our intel was_ so_ off then I think we were mislead on purpose once word of the rogue-ninja in Fire slipped out... and then they tried to eliminate the loose ends in Tani...and again on the way back to Konoha. They knew about the notebook. Gai, whoever is doing this..."

Gai's eyes darted back and forth between silver and pink as he tried to digest the information. He was ready to throw up and stop trying. This meal was comprised of conspiracy, insanity and a hint of treason. He was positive he hadn't been hungry for anything like _that_ this morning.

Kakashi's voice pleaded for him to understand and believe. "Gai, someone in Konoha is attacking Fire country."

The room fell quiet. This particular quiet was two parts desperation, one part disbelief. The ambiance fit the mood for the meal Gai was currently trying to ingest completely.

Gai's eyes squeezed shut as he tried to imagine, just for a second, that what they were saying was true. "Why? Why? What reason would someone have?"

Sakura tried to explain while Kakashi rose to his feet to pace some more. "We don't know...I...just when you said this about the team killed in Iwaki being the same as the shinobi that caught us in Tani, that was when it all fit together. We've been lost. We didn't know if the attacks on Fire were related or not, we didn't have enough information. Then ...Shikamaru...and now no-one will tell us anything until we are cleared."

" Gai, we need help. This is happening. We don't know what it is they want or what it is they are trying to do. People are dying. We need to stop-" Kakashi pleaded with his friend.

"Hey hey hey...we need to slow down. I can't even-If this is true...and I don't even know if it is and I'm not saying I do believe it...but lets just say I did. You have no proof-"

Sakura muffled an anguished cry as she tried to reason with Gai's amazing and sudden grasp of all things logical. "They took the notebook at the creek! They knew we translated it. They-"

"And that's all you had? A notebook that you say you translated. You don't have anymore than a few assumptions and the trust that you copied, translated and deciphered it correctly. Fire has enemies everywhere. Just because I few of them end up being the same people, doesn't mean there is a traitor in Konoha. You need _proof_." Gai's voice was edged with anxious frustration. This was not how he thought this conversation would end up. Not at all.

"You have to believe us Gai. It's me...I know what I saw. I know what it looks like, but just trust me. There is a traitor in Konoha. We need to find out who it is." Kakashi's tone mirrored the frustration that Gai was tossing at him. He **knew** they needed proof, but it's not like he could go buy it down the street at the store. They needed proof, but they needed help to get it.

Gai shook his head slightly, sucked in a giant breath and shrugged resignedly. This was Kakashi and Sakura. They were begging him. They might be going insane, but they were his friends. If there was really a traitor in Konoha, they would need help and he didn't trust anyone else to help them. If there was proof he would help them find it…if there was no proof…then he'd visit them in the hospital everyday. "Ok. Fine. Lets say I want to believe you. What now?"

The sudden change of demeanor was not expected, but this was Gai. He just decided and did. That was the way he always worked. The change in the atmosphere was like the first warm breeze after a long winter and neither Kakashi nor Sakura could stop the smiles from slipping over their features. An expression almost forgotten since their arrival in Konoha. There had been no reason to smile since their return home.

Now they had a reason. It was small and maybe in the end it wouldn't matter, or it could even make things worse. But Gai was on their side for the time being and right now that was a good enough reason to smile.

* * *

Kekkei-genkai activated, he could see through almost everything, including this crowd of people. It did not, however, take the Byakugan to see through all the bullshit praise that was being lamented on the Senior Anbu captain. He still held the man in stoic disdain for the way he handled the situation with Kakashi and Sakura in Tani, ignoring and challenging Tsunade's request for aid to be sent to two of the village's best shinobi.

Neji stood at the back of the crowd, anbu mask firmly in place and jaw set in disapproval, though no-one could see it and only because no one could see it did he leave it there. The man was still his superior, he was to be given his due respect. Even if for some reason the village seemed to be licking his heels because he completed a mission and brought back no one to question. It didn't seem like a _completely_ successful mission, but everyone else was just so thankful to have finally gotten a leg up on the enemy that no one was raising a brow to the fact that, even if they did manage to kill the enemy, they still had no more information than they had before.

The enemy was strong, powerful and smart. This was more than anyone else in the village had done. Mizuki's squad was hailed as heroes and Mizuki himself was now being praised openly at the steps of the Hokage tower for protecting Konoha and putting the village first. His name was being followed with cheers as he humbly accepted the praise and claimed several council members for helping him with the information that had led to the victory in Iwaki.

The trained eye of the Anbu senior caught the sight of the extra Anbu mask on hand and he bowed out of the proceedings as a few members of the council moved on to openly update the Shinobi on what the current situation was in Fire.

"Mizuki-san." Neji bowed slightly, his voice set free of emotion as he spoke.

"Hyuuga, what are you doing here? You are supposed to be on shift in The Six." Mizuki's face showed the slightest twitch of annoyance that did not go unnoticed. Probably it was not meant to.

"That is why I am here. Uchiha has reported a change in the prisoner's behavior. He isn't speaking to him anymore. He's wondering what he should do. It's been over two weeks now-"

"Are you asking me what a prisoner should do in prison Hyuuga?" Mizuki's voice was laced with cynicism.

Neji hesitated with a frown, his eyes narrowing slightly under his mask. Of course that's not what he was asking. "I was asking what Uchiha Sasuke's orders are Mizuki-san. Tsunade placed him in the Six for an assignment to try to get information from the prisoner that was captured on the border of River and now we have reached an impasse. I was also going to ask if Tsunade has looked at the information Uchiha did obtain and if she thought it was somehow related to the attacks on the Fire country."

"Hyuuga Neji...Do you think that _**you**_ have thought of something that myself, the Hokage or the council have not? The Uchiha's information was useless, just like he is. He will stay in the Six because that is where he belongs, and so will you. He is a traitor to this village and you would do well to keep that in mind when dealing with him." Mizuki's words came out in a low growl of contempt before he spun on his heel to leave. As an afterthought he paused a step away and turned back. "You should both think of your mistakes and all it has cost you while you are down there." And with that he walked back toward the crowd of leaf-ninja, leaving Neji alone with only the cold winds of winter that chilled his body and the frigid unmistakable glimmer of disgust and anger that was growing in his stomach for the man he was forced to recognize as a superior.

He gathered his pride and turned to go back to his babysitting duties on the Six.

Something was blocking him.

Something... _Green. _

"Gai-sensei." Neji didn't even try to pretend the man wouldn't know him, and a part of him that he was loathe to acknowledge was pleased to see his old teacher. Friendly faces were something he was having a hard time finding in the past few weeks since he had been ostracised to the Six and Fire had declared itself in a state of War.

"Neji! I've been looking for you! Where have you been!? I wanted to congratulate you on the success in Iwaki! " Gai smiled brightly at the mask that hid his student. Yes he was thrilled to see Neji, it had been a very long time since he had crossed paths with any of his students. Everyone was so busy these days, but there was another reason he was looking for the Hyuuga today besides a friendly chat.

Neji sighed slightly as he took a step toward the prison and Gai quickly followed after him. "I have been working in the Six Gai-sensei. I wasn't on the team in Iwaki."

Gai clapped him on the shoulder with a laugh. "Oh I know Neji, but a success for your teammates is a success for yourself remember?"

He did remember, but he didn't feel any real camaraderie with many of the people that were working with Mizuki in Iwaki. "Did you need something?" He skipped over his thoughts and went straight to the point. His emotions toward his superior and a few others were not something he should discuss openly. It wouldn't be appropriate.

"Do I need a reason to talk to one of my old students?" Gai quipped

"No." Neji was getting the distinct feeling he did have a reason though. He was standing a bit too close and talking more quietly than he was generally known for. "...But do you have one today?"

Gai's voice dropped just a hair lower. "Yes. As a matter of face... I do."

Neji nodded quietly to the affirmation of his assumptions and waited for more to be said.

"Do you still have access to the Anbu research labs?" Gai whispered as he glanced surreptitiously at the mask that hid Neji's face. He wanted to get into those labs and confirm for Kakashi and Sakura that the shinobi from Iwaki were the same from the campsite. That would be the first step toward the proof they needed and maybe there would be something on their bodies that could help identify who they were working for. Problem was; he wasn't Anbu and access was very limited due to the conditions Konoha was in. So he needed someone on the inside, someone he could trust. _Neji_

"I do..." Neji hesitated after a moment. The direction this was going in... he had a feeling he was about to be asked to do something to further jeopardize his status in Anbu.

"Is there a...guest allowance on that access?" Gai asked, his eyes meeting the mask that was now looking straight at him. His intentions could not be more clear, but he would not put himself in an incriminating position incase Neji was feeling especially by the books today. The last thing he needed was Neji telling someone he was trying to sneak into the Anbu labs without going through the proper channels. That would probably be frowned upon.

"Yes. The guest allowance is zero..." Neji answered, his gaze lingering on his old teacher as they walked. What was Gai up to?

"Oh..." Gai hit a will of disappointment and sighed deeply as he continued to walk beside his long time student. Neji, the boy he had taught to have a conscious and do what he needed to do for his friends. The Hyuuga who stood up against the unfairness of his clans segregation and Gai supported him every step of the way.

Neji felt a weight of guilt tug on his chest. It was ridiculous. He was not going to help Gai break into the Anbu labs. Whatever he wanted to do, he could just go through the proper chain of command...

_Silence. _Neji, the man he had watched grow from a selfish, sullen boy into the caring and loyal shinobi he was today.

Gai sighed again as they walked and Neji's eye twitched. The feeling of guilt was growing. He tried to stomp it down.

_Silence. _Neji, the Shinobi who said he would do anything for his friends no matter the cost.

The Hyuuga wouldn't look at his old sensei. He wouldn't. He was **not** going to do this. Not after all the indignities he's had to suffer since standing up against Mizuki for Tsunade.

_Silence. _Neji, the man he loved like a son, and he would forgive him for this little hiccup in loyalty because that is what a_ true_ friend would do.

Neji looked, despite his resolve not too. He couldn't control the impulse. He had to.

Gai smiled sadly and clapped him on the shoulder as their eyes met. "It's alright Neji. I just needed some help and I thought of you first. I'm sure I can ask someone else."

The Hyuuga's shoulders slumped and he gave up against the pressure of Gai's silence. _How does he do that?_ "When do you need to get in?"

"When would be the best time for a guest do you think?"

_Never._ "Tonight after eleven there is a shift change for the guards..."

"I'll find you tonight around ten then." Gai smiled brightly before he turned around mid step and headed off back toward town. Mission accomplished. Now he had a few other things to look into.

Neji continued toward the prison and wondered what he had just gotten himself into. _Again._

This was going to be a long day.

* * *

"Do you really think he will be able to help us?" Sakura whispered. Even in the solitude of Kakashi's apartment, she felt the need to speak quietly. She felt like she was whispering all the time. Everything she said these days was some kind of secret. The whispers were beginning to feel so heavy in her mouth.

Kakashi leaned over to smooth a stray lock of wind-tossed hair behind her ear as he tried to think of what to say. "I don't know, but he will try. He's Gai."

"He could get into a lot of trouble for this Kakashi. All of it..."

He nodded, the ocean of guilt in his stomach already making room for the repercussions of that decision. "He knows, but right now he's our only chance."

"What about Tsunade?" She didn't know 'which' unspeakable they were talking about right now. The Traitor in the village or their own traitorous acts. Either way though, she thought Tsunade was the one they needed to get to.

"Gai was right. We don't have any proof. And even the notebook wasn't enough... Tsunade isn't going to be able to believe us just based on what we say-"

"But she will. It's me and you. She trusts us both, she'll believe us."

"We need proof Sakura. Proof that what we are saying is true. With all that has happened...we need to have some sort of evidence to show her."

The medic met the eyes of her team leader and held it. "So we are not going to tell her about _any_ of this...? I don't think that's a good idea Kakashi." Her features twisted into a small scowl.

He could see the defiant challenge in her eyes. She wanted to tell Tsunade. "No, we have a few days until she gets here...when she does get here, we'll tell her about..." He leaned forward and took her hand that she had crossed over her chest in her small display of irritation with him. His fingers slid through her own as they both watched. "...this..." he sighed deeply as he squeezed her small hand in his own.

"What is this...?" She muttered absently as she gazed at their hands locked together. She didn't want to let go and she hated herself for it. It would be so much easier if she would just walk away. What was going to happen when people found out? How could they find the traitor if they were ripped apart?_ '... No, Tsunade wouldn't do that, she will be pissed, but she will __understand...I know she will...I hope she will...'_

Kakashi shrugged, the weariness in his voice betraying how torn down he felt. Yes, he was happy on some level that Gai was going to help and look for evidence, but he was feeling more and more like a traitor to his village everyday. He was struggling to try to find his way out of the pit of lies and truths and he wasn't sure if Sakura was pulling him down farther or helping him climb out. But he knew it was too late. He was in the pit and she was with him. They'd find their way out together...or they'd both drown when the flood came down on top of them.. "It's me and you...it has been the whole time."

He leaned toward her slowly, her fingers reaching toward his mask without the hesitation they once held and when he pressed his lips to hers, for a moment, all was forgotten.

* * *

"We can stop here for the night... Or do you want to keep going?" Naruto dropped down to the forest floor and was quickly followed by his Hyuuga counterpart.

Hinata frowned and shrugged. She mostly wanted to go back to Suna, where they had been ordered to stay through the communications scroll with the council and Tsunade. "We can keep going if-"

"Well yeah, you're right. Let's just keep going. If we keep moving through the night we can be back in Konoha tomorrow night."

Hinata's mouth pursed slightly. She was almost one hundred percent positive she hadn't said anything of the sort. She thought back over what she had verbalized. She was now definitely one hundred percent sure she hadn't said anything like that. "Ok." She went along with it anyways. She'd already come this far. She couldn't let Naruto go flying back in to Konoha alone. Well, he wouldn't go alone anyways. He would wait for her if he needed, but more likely he would just pick her up and carry her there to get them home in less time.

That option wasn't the best choice. Then, besides getting in trouble for going against the Hokage's instructions, he'd probably be in trouble for kidnapping also. It was best she arrived on her own two feet and take equal share in the trouble they were about to find themselves in._ Yay_. Well he was Naruto. No one really expected him to listen to the orders to stay in Suna...right?. Especially not after what happened to Shikamaru, Kakashi and Sakura.

The news about what had happened to Shikamaru had hit Naruto like a ton of bricks. He blamed himself. He should have been there to protect his teammates. He just wanted to go home, see his friends and help his village defend the country.

She wanted the same thing. So when he told her he was leaving and wasn't going to wait for the team and asked her to go with him, she didn't hesitate to say yes. Now that they were almost home and had no trouble along the way, the only trouble she could think of was the wall of anger that was going to be facing them when they showed up at home after ignoring very specific orders. Yes. That did make her hesitate slightly.

"Naruto-kun..." She reached out and grabbed his arm before he took off again.

"What is it Hinata?" His faced slipped into worry as he took in her appearance. Maybe he had pushed too hard. She was tired after all the effort she had put into learning that Jutsu all alone, and she still hadn't mastered it completely. "Do you want to stop for the night?"

"No...that's not it..." She winced as she tried to figure out what she wanted to tell him. Even after all this time she still got tongue tied around him. "I just...don't blame yourself...getting there faster won't bring Shikamaru back..." She spoke to her feet. She didn't want to see the look on his face.

The blonde man blinked in surprise as the regret of his decision to stay in Suna stabbed him in the chest like a hot knife. It might not bring Shikamaru back, but he would be there for his friends. This was his fault. He was in Suna and he should have been there. "I know Hinata, but Kakashi and Sakura are hurting...and Fire is at war. It's my job to protect it."

"It's all our jobs Naruto. You can't protect everyone...I know you're blaming yourself for what happened."

She was right. She knew him too well. He fought the knot in his throat at the thought of the gloomy looking shadow-user and the way he died while Sakura and Kakashi watched. He should have been the one to go, not Kakashi. "...If I had gone..."

"You don't know if it would have been any different."

"Yes I do...I'm stronger than Kakashi...he and Sakura have already been through so much...they weren't ready...I should have gone, I could have stopped what happened. I know I could have."

A spark of anger lit up in her chest. She hated when he did this. "You do **not** know. This was an accident, no-ones fault."

"First Sai and now Shikamaru...and we lost Sasuke too...I'm not going to lose anyone else Hinata. I've tried to keep us all together...and I keep messing up. I couldn't just wait in Suna for a team to have enough time to meet us on the border. Sakura and Kakashi trust me...I need to be there for them. I'm sorry that I made you come with me."

"You didn't make me do anything. I wanted to come too and I understand why. I just want to make sure, before we get back to Konoha, that you aren't going to do anything stupid. Naruto...you can't fight the enemy alone just because you think it's all up to you."

It was his turn to frown now. "I'm not going to Hinata...don't worry."

"But I do worry Naruto...How can I not?"

"Just come home with me Hinata, it will all be fine. We'll take care of Konoha together, you can practice the jutsu you learned and we'll just deal with it...but we'll be home and around our friends...not stuck in Suna where we only get a few sentences of information a day, ok?"

The Hyuuga sighed and forced a small smile, just so she could see its reflection grace his face. He didn't understand what she was trying to say and neither did she. "Ok...lets go home."

* * *

"I want to see that little pink bitch!"

Sasuke's eyes rolled open and he stared at the gray ceiling in his cell. Kanta was at it again. He wouldn't say two words to Sasuke, but somehow he had found out that Sakura was back in Konoha. The Kunoichi who ripped off his arm.

He wouldn't shut up about it. It was really annoying.

He was glad Sakura had made it back with Kakashi, mostly unharmed, but he had heard about what happened to Shikamaru. That had been harder to deal with than he thought it would have. The shadow-user was a regular visitor. They would play Shogi in amiable silence or discuss small goings on in the village. He had even gotten Choji and a few others to come sometimes. Shikamaru, for how distant he seemed, was a decent guy. Maybe they could have been real friends. If he hadn't gone rogue for power, betrayed his village and friends and tried to destroy everything the Shinobi of Konoha loved. There was always that standing in the way of 'what could have been', and also the bars on his cell door.

The familiar creak of the door from the room where the guards observed them signaled that Kanta's demands had been noted. The confident taps of shoes on the hard concrete floor declared that his demands were about to be addressed.

The gravelly voice of one of the regular Anbu officers scratched it's way to his ears as the masked man walked past his cell. "Shut the fuck up. We've heard enough. One more word and we will drag you-"

"What have you heard enough of?" A second voice and a second set of footsteps followed the first. This one less angry, slightly unfamiliar, and more commanding. Sasuke lifted his head to put a name to the voice.

"Uh, Mizuki-san, I didn't realize you were here." The first voice wavered slightly in the presence of an authority figure catching him being belligerent with one of the prisoners.

"I got reports that one of the prisoners was being a nuisance. So I came to see which one."

Sasuke met the impassive stare of the Anbu captain and couldn't help the way the scowl immediately slipped over his features. Now he recognized the voice that he had heard in the cell a few weeks ago. It was Akihisa Mizuki, council member and senior Anbu officer. The most adamant speaker on putting him to death when he was dragged back to Konoha.

If Sasuke had been in his position he would have said the same thing, but seeing as how he was the one Mizuki wanted dead, he couldn't help but feel irritated every time the man crossed his path. Which wasn't often. Why would he ever need to descend to the pits of the Six to see prisoners? But oddly enough now he had two times in the past few weeks.

"I see the Uchiha is quiet today..." Mizuki's eyes left the dark haired sharingan wielder and shifted to the cell across the hall were Kanta had grown quiet.

"It's the other one." The Anbu guard stated the obvious.

"He's causing trouble?" Mizuki asked idly

"He's just being loud, nothing we can't handle."

"What is he saying?"

"Someone told him Haruno was back in Konoha...he wanted to talk to her."

"Why would he want..." Mizuki paused mid-sentence, as if recalling some trivial detail, before he continued. "Ahh...yes...she is the one that got him here isn't she?"

Sasuke's scowl grew. Why was he acting like he didn't know Kanta's story; he was just talking to him two weeks ago. He assumed to ask questions, now he wasn't so sure... _'...stop trying to make everyone in Konoha your enemy.' _ He berated himself. He had to keep himself in check. He had made so many mistakes in the past, been wrong about so many people based on his own selfish and immoral codes, he didn't have one leg to stand on when it came to correctly judging people and their motives these days. He still tried to make everyone the enemy at the drop of a hat. At least he was now painfully aware of his paranoid shortcomings.

"Yes, Sir. He's been asking for her since he found out that she was back in the village. I don't know who told him but-."

"That doesn't matter. Let me deal with it." The Anbu senior turned and walked toward the cell where the big rogue was being held as his subordinate watched from outside Sasuke's cell and Sasuke watching from the inside.

* * *

Kanta gave an inward sigh of relief when he heard Mizuki's voice. He had screamed his fuckin' ass off for days like he had been told to do since the last time Mizuki came down and told him that pink haired slit was in leaf. This little mission was somehow going to get him out of here. Mizuki was one of '_them_' and he could make it happen. He just needed Kanta to do this one little thing before. Well shit yea he could do that as easy as he could find his dick in the dark, as long as it got him out of this place.

When the Anbu captain of Konoha, the man who was going to get him out of this dungeon, came into view, he had to fight down an ugly smile of self-satisfaction that threatened to overtake his face in the presence of his traitorous leader. He had done good. He pitched a bitch until someone reported it to the higher-ups and gave Mizuki a legitimate reason to make the next move in their plan and now he just had one more thing to do and he was a free man.

He reached for the bars of the cell and clenched his teeth when he remembered he only had one arm to do it with. That seemed way less intimidating but either way he gripped the shit out of the bar with his one good hand. "I want to see that little pink bitch."

Mizuki frowned passed the swelling pride in his chest. Not for Kanta, that idiot was almost as useless as the dirt on his heel, but for the way his plans were unfolding perfectly. There had been a few bumps along the road, mostly having to do with team seven, but that was all about to sort itself out finally. If he wanted something done right, he usually had to do it himself. "Why do you want to see Haruno Sakura?"

Kanta kept to his role easily enough. He did want to see that fuckin little cunt that robbed him of his ability to form hand signs. "Let me talk to her and I'll tell her everything I know, but I want to tell _her_. No-one else."

Mizuki pursed his lips and hesitated for what he felt like was the exact right amount of time to demonstrate that he was thinking over this tough decision. "Why would you want to speak with her?"

"We've got a fucking _arm load _of things to talk about. I just want a chance to talk to her, then I'll talk about everything."

Mizuki's frowned stayed in place as he stared through Kanta for a few more seconds before he nodded slightly and strode off down the aisle, his anbu officer quickly coming to heel as he nodded for him to follow.

The door shut behind the two Anbu men and prisoners were once again left alone; Sasuke wondering what was going to happen and Kanta preparing to follow through on the rest of his mission and get the fuck out of Konoha.

* * *

"Mizuki-san, what should we do with him?" The Anbu guard asked evenly.

"Nothing for now. I'm going to go find Haruno and see if she will agree to talk to him."

A fog of uncertainty fell between the two guards and their superior as they tried to keep up with his line of thinking.

Mizuki slowed down so they could catch up. "We've questioned him nicely, beat him, tried to break into his mind and haven't gotten anywhere. If he wants to sit across from Haruno, spit in her face and call her names before he talks, we will let him. As long as he's talking."

The guards had caught up. This was a good idea. This was why he was a senior captain. This is how he and his team had caught the enemies in Iwaki. They were just going to gag him to get him to shut up. Now they had a way to get information out of him. _Smart._

"I'm going to go find Haruno." With a supportive clap on the back Mizuki left his two guards in awe of his brilliant and modest way of leadership, just like the rest of Konoha.

* * *

"Kakashi, is Sakura with you? " A smooth voice questioned from through the foliage.

"I think she's over there." Kakashi's voice answered, slightly winded.

"Right here!" Sakura called wearily, wiping her brow on the sleeve of her jacket. She and Kakashi had been on the training grounds all morning, waiting for Gai to return with some information that he might have gathered last night. He had told them he had a plan to get proof that the people in Iwaki were in fact the people from Tani. He didn't want to explain anymore than that, no matter how they pressed him for details.

The sobering and familiar face of Neji Hyuuga hovered beside her silver-haired jounin. Looking as grim and put upon as ever_. '...If someone had access to that dialect from the notebook and inside information on Konoha and Fire country...he would definitely be on the list...' _Sakura almost scolded herself for the thought, but then stopped. _'Suspicion is the precipice of enlightenment.' _Kakashi had told her before. If they were going to find the Traitor, they had to suspect everyone. Including their friends. "Neji, what are you doing out here?" She asked as she tucked her uncertainties away and slapped on her usual smile. She could be mistrustful, but she couldn't behave that way.

"I've been looking for you two all morning-" If possible, his frown deepened.

"You found us-" The copy ninja joked amiably, his own anxiety about the unexpected Hyuuga showing up instead of his over zealous friend was only increased because he hadn't come alone.

"So have I... I thought you were both under orders to rest. "

The mask man's eye crinkled slightly as the Anbu captain slipped into view beside Neji "Mizuki-san. I thought I heard two sets of feet coming this way. What can I do for you?"

Mizuki returned the eye crinkle with a warm smile. "Actually I was looking for Haruno-san." His eyes slipped from the copy ninja to the medic as he spoke to her. "I was wondering if you could be persuaded to help me with something."

The medic in question raised her brows slightly as a rock of fear dropped into her stomach. _'...They want to ask more questions...' _

The Anbu senior gestured back toward Konoha slightly as he spoke, "I'll explain on the way. It's nothing big, but your cooperation would be very helpful to Konoha, and it won't go unmarked."

The implications rang in everyone's ears and Kakashi had the urge to reach out to pull his medic back to him. Implications and threats were narrowly separated in times of war and Mizuki was nothing if not a shrewd man. But before he could voice his concern, the kunoichi he constantly feared for nodded her acquiescence and stepped away from him. Only when she looked back over her shoulder to wave goodbye did he see the doubt he felt swimming in her own eyes.

This is what they had become through the suspicion, failure, lies and grief. They were both terrified of the people they had known all their lives.

Kakashi's dark eye slipped back to the man beside him who was also watching the medic walk away. "Did you need something else Neji?"

Neji's lips pressed together. He hadn't gotten what he came for in the first place. "I wasn't with Mizuki-san. I came to tell you and Sakura that Gai wants you both to meet him at the memorial stone at noon."

Kakashi tucked his hands in his pockets and feigned disinterest. "Oh ok...thanks Neji."

"He said do not be late..." Gai had said no such thing, but it just seemed implied and he felt it necessary to pass along the warning to the ever-late copy ninja.

"I won't. Do you know what Mizuki wanted Sakura for? They weren't heading toward the hokage tower." He bent down to pick up one of the kunai they had been using that morning and gestured lazily toward where Sakura had been escorted away by the Anbu captain.

"I do not..." Neji's eyes narrowed slightly in the direction his superior and the Hokage's apprentice had gone. It wasn't unusual for a member of the Anbu to request assistance from Sakura; she was an incredible medic. "Maybe someone returned injured...and they want her help..." He said, more to reassure the odd feeling in his chest then to assure Kakashi.

"She's not cleared for duty." Kakashi muttered as he bent down and picked up another kunai, his pulse kicking up a notch with worry.

Neji blinked and nodded. "An emergency would warrant pulling her from off duty status to attend to it."

"Hmm...he was walking pretty slow for an emergency..." The mask man tucked the loose Kunai into his belt and shoved his hands back in his pockets as he stared up at the sky. It was almost noon now.

Neji nodded. He felt something growing in his brain like a disease and he was pretty sure he had caught it from Gai. _Curiousity. _First the midnight trip into the Anbu labs' morgue with Gai, then clandestine rendezvous with Sakura and Kakashi and now this thing with Mizuki. He was getting involved in something he was not privy too and he wasn't sure how he felt about that. Konoha was at war, this was no time for...for whatever was going on.

Kakashi sighed and shrugged listlessly when his observation went without comment. "See ya Neji. Thanks." He walked off toward the memorial stone nonchalantly. He'd meet with Gai first, then find out what was going on with his medic. Or he'd just get Gai to go with him and they could discuss the information or lack there of that had been found on the way to see what was happening with Sakura.

Neji stood in silence for a few more minutes debating what to do. Follow Kakashi and see what Gai wanted to meet him about, or follow Mizuki and see what he wanted with Sakura.

**No.**

He was going home. He would not get involved. He had too much at stake and he had already risked enough.

He needed to meditate.

* * *

A/N

Till next time.

Again sorry for the lack of excitement. It was a long wait for not much happening :\ I know that can be frustrating

Oo Thank RoxinSox for looking this chappy over for Le Ninken Ears. Without it...you would have had to translate this chap from retard - english.


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